Passed boundaries
by Exitous
Summary: When love is not madness, it is not love. With the help of some grape juice, Erza is just about to find out anyway...
1. Chapter 1: Grape juice

**Passed boundaries**

**Chapter one: Grape juice**

**Disclaimer: FT Me. No. Own!**

* * *

"More cleavage Titania, you need to dominate the shoot sweetie!" Exclaimed the photographer namely called Stuart, Erza didn't know who the hell he was, nor did she truly believe that this guy was an employee of Sorcerer weekly. Was this what Mira had to endure every time she got called in to do a gravure shoot?

"No, no, no, salamander! You are being unnecessary shy; don't get discouraged when I say that the Titania is the dominant one, you Mr. Dragneel are supposed to be the savage lusting male who is supposed to take her any moment now! We have about 200 frames left people, make it snappy!" Erza's face took on the same traits as her hair when the queer photographer in tight leather pants and a horrible denim jacket gave Natsu his instructions.

Natsu on the other hand was nearing a panic attack, this isn't what Mira had told him, it seemed as if there was something fishy about this whole thing, as Happy would most definitely say…or maybe not, he was kind of weird most of the time when it came to things like this.

The two fairy tail mages were clad in beach gear, Natsu being the one with the swimming trunks who were black with a fire orange outlining, while Erza had been offered a revealing bikini. The bottom piece showing off her well-toned thighs to the camera flashes. They both had never expected that they would meet each other here; according to Mira they would simply replace her in the weekly gravure shoot at the sorcerer weekly, they were supposed to meet up with Jason and things would proceed in the normal fashion, well, neither had been in a photo shot…

"Mr. Dragneel! You are a predator; your prey is in your sights, devour her! Use the inhale I told you about earlier, don't just stand around there, time is money, and I suppose you want some, ain't that right fairy tail folks?" How this guy could be so calmly spouting crap at this rate didn't come to Natsu, he might not be brightest fellow around but he knew his boundaries and this was Erza, one did not simply invade Erza's free space without losing a tooth or two, this Stuart guy was insane. The rosette was astounded by the fact that the fairy queen hadn't impaled her sword in his chest yet!

Erza was on the brink of giving up, but she would still keep going, if Mira did this kind of stuff then she would be damned if it proved undo-able for her! It was all about fighting spirit! But the problem was this: The night before Erza had been fiddling around in Levy's library…again, she was looking for, well, let's say stimulating literature to keep her nerves calm and easy, or so she thought…

**-ooo-**

The heroine in the book she read, was a model in her twenties, with the perfect life before her, and the most sought after body that would make the members of the fairer sex green in agonizing envy and the males gawking, one day a male model debuts in her agency and they are paired up to be photoed together. One thing led to another and they both ended up passionately entangled into each other's limbs after wards. Page after page, led to a sleepless night of sexual tensions, and Erza wake.

Upon hearing the chirping of birds, Erza knew that she had been reading the whole night. Only to fall asleep still comfortably seated in her arm chair. Mira's offer seemed to be the right thing for her, she needed some alone time, dedicated to her, yes she had allowed herself to be selfish, even if it was just this once!

**-ooo-**

Erza was feeling a lot more brave today, she could almost imagine herself to be the main protagonist from Levy's book, she was so engrossed in her role that her head was spinning, round and round, it was tenacious.

The photographer was not happy, the mages had been useless this whole shoot, the pink haired one was frozen in place, it was as if he was scared shit-less, what, hadn't he ever had a woman? Bullshit, with the abs like his own he could get anyone! "Don't just stand around, salamander! Aren't you supposed to be fearless!?" This guy wouldn't let him take a break, Natsu strangely enough felt the ever so growing urge to punch him the face repeatedly!

Gathering his resolve the pink haired fire dragon slayer mustered enough courage to snare his arm around Erza's shoulders in a supposedly casual motion. The Titania slightly winced at the touch of his warm sticky skin; it felt oddly nice, even if the sweat was repulsing.

"Ah, gods, Mike take a look at this! Now they have gotten all buddy-buddy! They are worthless after all! I just saw the salamander get friend zoned! That is not what a predator does, gosh…just cancel this whole gig, my brain cells just took suicide after watching this tragic scene play out…" Mike was the tall slender man in the beige chino pants and button up Hawaii shirt; all in all he seemed to be a suck up.

"HEY, take that back! Fire dragons: Roa-" The rose haired dragon was enraged and positively furious! Taking this stuck up guys mocking was one thing, but going ahead and calling him worthless was stepping over the line! With Erza here Natsu had been very careful to be on his best behavior, but he wasn't going to just suck it up and go on with life, NO, he was going to take that damn camera of his and shove it up so far up his ass so it would end up behind his eyes! That was the plan until Erza decided to interfere…

With a swift move the Titania had grasped a hold of Natsu's ear and was delivering a fitting punishment. "Excuse him, Mr. Stuart, my companion is feeling a bit ill at the moment so I request a switch of roles, let me be the…predator…" She couldn't believe her own ears, what was she spouting, predator? She knew she should just have tagged along with Natsu's plan and thrashed the place but, somewhere deep within, Erza wanted to do this.

Being very careless and uninterested the leather pants clad photographer got ready to snap a few more frames as he spoke. "If you insist, I am feeling merciful today, Mike ready the lights" And so the second session of the day began, with Erza as the lustful part. Natsu was still mad; he needed to vent his anger. Thanks to that he couldn't concentrate on his job at hand.

Suddenly he felt two warm slender arms snare passionately around his back and onto his front, standing perplexed at the scarlet knight's action. "E-Erza?"

Erza didn't know either, it was as she was going on impulse, and scenes from her recent dive into Levy's smut novel collection had left her confused and wanting. "Shut up and just let me do this…"

Many emotions ran through Erza, it felt wrong, yet so right, had Natsu's back always been this broad and well defined? Well it didn't matter, it was all for the success task before her! She needed this, and did not care what the photographer though. Natsu on the other hand was on the verge of passing out! Cold sweat started being produced in his pores and dangerous thoughts ran loose inside his mind.

Pressing her lush bust at Natsu's back in compromising pose, thus making her bum look tight, it all was very suggestive and it seemed like Stuart loved it! "Madame scarlet, you are fantastic, cool, the very definition of sexy!" Feeling encouraged by this, Erza intensified her suggestive assault on Natsu, letting out all her pent up stress and emotions. The Titania released her hands from her previous hug and proceeded to turn Natsu around and used her left hand to trace her hand down through Natsu's stomach, taking in the feel of his muscles.

Natsu felt really awkward, to be honest he didn't like this situation at all, Erza was being very confident, and overwhelming. Natsu hadn't ever been in this situation before, ever! But, two could play this game; as the rosette was tired of being played with! It didn't help that Stuart was literally jumping in his seat while taking the growing amount of pictures and yelling at him.

"Salamander, fight back, and reclaim your role as the dominant male! Give me passion, come on!" Alright! He was fired up already, now he could battle it out with Erza, he was going to make her withdraw!

As she continued to caress his body, Natsu took the initiative and moved in on the crimson knight's flank and attacked her milky white neck by tenderly kissing it, leaving a delicate trace of kisses all the way to her collarbone. Erza's breath hitched and her breathing grew ragged, Natsu's lips while being soft, were indescribably warm. His kisses left her a tingling sensation of pleasure to cope with, that was very embarrassing to begin with, Erza had clearly drawn a firm line were she thought things would get out of hand, or so she thought! Natsu was going to feel her wrath…later.

Between her small suggestive fast paced breaths Erza managed to utter a few words. "Natsu, ngh, y-you are so dead when we are done here!" When he heard that Natsu's blood iced in his veins, and his attack came to an abrupt stop, Erza sure was pissed! However the scarlet knight didn't appreciate that his hands had stopped tracing around her body, so she once again took the initiative.

Erza used her brute strength to simply trip over the rosette dragon slayer, who was beginning to get second thoughts. What the hell was wrong with Erza? Wasn't this just a game they both played? That's what he thought, but Erza didn't, or so it seemed.

The Titania was gazing down upon the fallen dragon slayer, she did so with a lustful intention, upon every passing second the Titania noticed a new line of muscle on Natsu's body that would make drool, the small beads of sweat that trailed from his neck and downwards really emphasized his well-toned figure, he seemed so much more attractive than before. At the moment Natsu didn't care about Erza's approach, there was a more serious matter at hand. As Erza's breathing got more and more constant, Natsu could feel the stench of grapes and something else that was irking his nostrils, it was the same smell from the grape juice he and Happy tried earlier...

* * *

_**In the lounge, earlier…**_

* * *

Pink tufts of hair could be spotted in the lounge, Natsu and happy was seated near a window, in front of them was vial of unknown origin. As neither of them had ordered anything like this. The Bottle was made out of glass and there was a white label posted on the bottle, Natsu couldn't decipher its meaning, nor could happy.

"Hey Natsu, what does sha-at-ou ge-ou-les mean?" The blue exceed was not certain how to pronounce the words written, it seemed to be in some foreign language.

"Man, where is Levy when you need her, I have heard from Luce that she is very good with words!" Natsu was sure Levy could tell them what it said on the label, she had always been notorious for being a book worm, and if she had read a lot of books then at least one of the books must have mentioned the words written on the label!

"I see, I see, I saw her once doing a crossword she was super-fast, you have a point there!" Happy was also certain that levy was the man for the job!

"Well, Levy is not here now, and I wanna know what's inside!" Without as much as a second though Natsu grabbed the bottle and drew out the cork, with a plop it flew away! As he carefully placed the bottle back on the wooden table, Natsu encouraged Happy to take a sniff at the liquid. "Smell it happy! How is it like?" His eyes were sparkling and the trademark grin was back on his face, flashing his sharp canines to the world.

Happy did as he was told and took a smell at the aroma the bottle welled out porously. "Natsu, Natsu! It smells like grapes! I bet it's super tasty!" Happy was ecstatic, the liquid was supposedly very good smelling! Natsu couldn't keep himself from doing the same, he needed to see if Happy talked the truth.

Grabbing a hold of the bottle neck, Natsu delicately moved it closer to his dragon slayer nose, and prepared to take a small innocent sniff. But the results were far from expected, at first thought there was a satisfying aroma of sweet grapes, but then the bomb hit. The next sensation that hit his nostrils was horrible, it was so concentrated that it made his nose burn and his eyes teary! Happy was a liar! This smelled like crap!

Distancing himself from the drink Natsu looked back up to his blue exceed friend, it seemed Happy had decked and was soundly asleep. What the hell was this for a sort of drink? A sleep potion, or maybe a drug? Natsu didn't know, and would probably not try it out!

Deciding to leave Happy there he was, after all he seemed to have very pleasant dreams, if one would go by the small trickles of drool that were trailing down his furry chin. Just as the dragon slayer was about to leave he felt a heavy armored hand on his shoulder, it was of course his right shoulder where his skin was bare, and the cold plating from the armor gave him a severe case of goosebumps, wait what! Armored? If going by Natsu's experience that could only mean one thing! ERZA!

"Natsu what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on a job?" hahah, this was bad...why was Erza here? Mira didn't mention any of this! "Er, why are you here?" That was a very stupid question, Erza always had a reason, if she didn't she still had a reason, that was how it was with Erza!

But what meet Natsu's face wasn't an armored gauntlet to the face, quite the contrary actually! Erza was acting all embarrassed and flushed, and kept fidgeting with her index fingers, while from time to time stroking back her tufts of scarlet hair...it was kind of cute, to be truthful.

"I am, eh, here, to fill in for Mirajane!" She said while trying to look inconspicuous, Natsu believed her but wanted to keep the conversation away from why he was here!

"Ah, okay, um, what are you doing for her..?" Damn it, no matter how hard she tried, Erza couldn't lie to a guild mate, she would try but it would mostly just come out as a confession rather than a smooth indirect answer.

"I am here to take a gravure shoot for Mira, as she is sick!" Huh, what were the odds, Natsu was also here in Mira's place. But he wasn't going to do a gravure shoots, was he?

"Ah, nice me too, Mira sent me, in fact I think I am going to go...erm...upstairs, and change, see ya!" Phew, catastrophe evaded, he was safe for now! But if Erza was also here then he had to be careful to not break anything, start any fights, steal any food from the cafeteria and use the doors!

"Wait, Natsu...oh well, I'll catch up with him later, after all it seems that Mira sent us to the same job." It didn't bother Erza that Natsu was here, in fact it was good to not be alone on a job like this, Natsu might lighten up the mood. Erza was going to proceed after Natsu, when she spotted happy in one of the cushioned seats, the rays of the sun hitting his eyes in his sleep. Making the blue exceed twist and turn. The Titania decided to turn Happy onto his stomach, thus preventing the sun to annoy his sleep.

When she was done, the bottle that stood on the wooden table caught her attention. She could use some refreshments, the cork was gone and the aroma of grapes hit her senses, and she quite liked it. Using the crystal glass that stood next to the bottle to pour a decent amount of the beverage into it, then bringing it closer to her mouth in order to sip from the liquid. Ah, how refreshing, had Natsu been drinking this sort of stuff all the time? Oh, how she had missed out on things. It was the most delicious grape juice she ever had tasted, it was as if her headache from her sleepless night of reading had completely vanished.

Erza was sure Natsu wouldn't mind that she helped herself with another glass, after all he hadn't even touched the bottle aside from unscrewing the cork...

* * *

_**Back at the shoot...**_

* * *

The fairy queen had used the dragon slayers distraction as a means of catching him off guard, and was now effectively straddling him. Natsu had nowhere to escape now, she Erza had yet again beaten him, utterly and completely! Moving in with the final blow, Erza gently cupped her palm on Natsu's cheek, he regained his composure as he discovered her close presence, he didn't know what to do, his hands had no where to hold onto, every place he though of was a no-no zone. Instead he let his voice be heard: "Erza, stop it, this is getting weird!" His pleads went unheard as he got her initial reply: "I though I told you too keep quiet and let me do this?"

Then it happened, Erza leaned in with her now pillowy yet moist lips and initiated a passionate kiss with the dumbfounded dragon slayer, who in turn softened from his tense state and tried to kiss back, as Natsu tried to breath Erza took the chance and slid her tongue in the opening of his lips. There a fierce battle took place as both parties wanted control over the other. Natsu was lost, in the strangely satisfying taste of strawberry and grapes. With her other free hand Erza took a hold Natsu's and guided it to her back, like entwined snakes their limbs snared around each other's bodies, Natsu didn't know it would be this good, and he would gladly continue if Erza was fine with it.

In all of this commotion neither Natsu or Erza had noticed that they were being watched, Stuart and Mike had stopped taking pictures a while ago, they were shocked, the Titania had put up a show, not in their wildest dreams had they imagined that...this would happen.

"CUT! STOP!" Like a spring he jumped away from her, mostly because Natsu didn't know if what he had done was right, he was still sweating and his whole body felt unusually warmer then usual. With his heart in his throat the rosette dragon slayer waited for Erza's reaction, she wasn't herself that much was clear, but she was still Erza and...she was asleep? Erza had simply decided to doze off, like happy did earlier. It must be the effect of the grape juice!

"You two were amazing! We got many amazing pictures, thank you!" Natsu felt like time itself had stopped, pictures? Fuck, they were at a photo shoot, damn it! When Erza initiated the kiss he sort of entered a limbo, or something like that.

Walking up to the man with the leather pants, Natsu stated his question: "You aren't going to publish those are you, huh?" Letting out his killing intent upon the now scared witless man, Natsu made his point clear, the pictures weren't going to be published, Period!

"Of course, w-without your consent we can't do anything with these!" Stuart whimpered, while using his napkin to wipe off the sweat that had started gathering on his forehead.

"Good, that better be true!" The Salamander was so naïve and innocent, such a fool! Stuart and his tall assistant Mike watched as the pink haired dragon slayer hurried over to the Titania and picked her up, and carrying her to the exit in a piggy back hold. He didn't even care to change out of his clothes! Well not that the leather pants wearing man cared, he could keep them, really!

Now that they were gone he could express his emotions freely! "Mike did you just hear what the salamander said?" The tall man in the chino pants proceeded to answer in monotone voice: "Yes, Stuart-sama, he said that we can't publish anything, while that's true, the fact remains that we cane sell the pictures to a publisher that will!"

"Exactly," Stuart exclaimed. "I bet Sorcerer weekly are more than interested! Hurry, contact Jason, Mike when you talk to the guy, I want you to over exaggerate this scoop so much it will make the Blue Pegasus gay scandal look like a crap you find in ghetto alleyways!"

"Yes, Stuart-sama!" Mike replied.

**-ooo-**

_Things were about to get a lot more complicated for the dragon and knight from this day onwards!_

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**AN: I wrote this together in the span of three hours. And it may not be my best work, but it was very funny to write and it's romance! Relentless was getting me a writers block so I quickly had to switch to another project before I would just totally lose my muse! **

**Let me know if you think the concept of this fic is interesting, accordingly I will continue it! And I know my alcohol logic is a bit flawed, if you are mad sue me!**

**WARNING: there will be a lemon in the next chap, right at the start!**

**Leave me a line or two, as it makes my shipper heart flutter!**

**PS: Flames are lame and will be given to Natsu!**


	2. Chapter 2: Girls night

**Passed boundaries**

**Girl's night, all night, every night.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot.

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Erza stepped onto the cold stone floor beneath the shower heads of Fairy hills, just enough room for her to walk around. She pulled down the release located to the left of the entrance, and as soon as the water left their captures, the Titania closed the glass door. She lifted her head, while placing her hands on the wall so the water could touch her neck before running down her skin; trickling around each shape of her body and down her legs until it parted with her naked body to mingle on the floor and fall down the small drain located in the middle of the white marbled shower room.

She turned around and closed her eyes, there was nothing better than a warm shower after a though quest. Letting her head be drenched from the falling water, flattening her fair scarlet hair to her skin. As she methodically massaged her shampooed hands through her hair and nape, while listening to the water echo as it hit the cold stone tiled floor, her mind was as far away from Fairy tail, duties and jobs as possible. Just as she thought that her presence was the only one, the fairy queen sensed another person's feet gently disturb the flow of the water to the drain.

Turning around with a calm demeanor to greet said person, as she was at Fairy hills, the women's dormitory. It was probably just Juvia, or Levy. However what meets her presence was soft skin contact with her lips. The Titania tensed, but after a mere second or two, she relaxed her sore muscles, and deepened the initiated kiss. Long warm yet muscular hands were draped like snaked over her soaked naked body. It sent pleasurable, pulsating shivers down her core.

As the scarlet knight passionately gripped her current lover's waist, a familiar rose color caught her attention. The creased corners of her lips perked up as she discovered the embrace of Natsu's body against her own; her hands sliding up around his neck, resting on his shoulders as she ran her hands through his hair and down his back; gently brushing past the skin along with the water droplets which made him quiver. Gripping his hair lightly she almost pushed his head into her how, their kiss synchronizing since the first touch; locking together between each breath.

Natsu slid down his hands from the embrace, clenching them when they reached her subtle bum; causing her to lift up onto the tips of her toes. While doing so the aroused dragon slayer took in the whole scene playing out before his eyes, her firm voluptuous breast and the droplets of water that were sliding down her busty figure, the look of lust in her chestnut eyes, it turned him on, in so many levels.

"Natsu…" She whispered to him as his body pushed hers until she was between him and the wall, the icy feeling from the wall sending her pours Goosebumps as the cold shuddered her body, pausing the kiss for a brief moment before it was able to continue. He brushed his cheek past her, and reached her neck, nuzzling at the skin of her neck before his canines met it with the light pressure of a bite. As the air left her lungs, a slight cry joined her breath from the sensation of the bite, her hands gripping his hair from the release. With her breathing rhythm hitched and in disarray, Erza stuttered the following: "…You are not supposed to be here…what if they hear..?" Her pleadings of understanding went unheard as the dragon slayer silenced her with yet another kiss.

The water squelched between their bodies, the passionate aura coming from one and other filling the atmosphere around them, water drifting away from their lips as their breath became heavy. Natsu pushed forward, in an instant his length was inside her, Erza couldn't help but to let out a moan ecstasy. His manhood was grinding all over the walls of her sex, the feeling was nothing like she had ever felt before, there was so much intensity, the knight could barely keep up with her own breathing.

Lifting Erza up slightly by her bum; His body tensing, her body melting from the first series of momentous thrusts.  
The scarlet knight let out a slightly louder cry, the electrifying pleasure pulsing through her body. She tenderly wrapped her arms over his shoulder to keep her steady as he found his rhythm, the sound from her vocal cords escaping her mouth as her breath was pushed out of her. She slid round her legs and wrapped them around his waist, Lessing the leverage for him holding her steady as he pushed into her.

As he could now remove his hands, he grabbed a hold of her arms pushing them up against the wall; his fingers locking between her own. He leant forward and kissed all around her face; her nose, each cheek, her forehead until finally reaching her luscious longing lips and pressed in a final kiss.  
He gave a final push, releasing the energy from him into her; her stomach pressed against his as the kiss was broken, her back arched from the shooting climax which took over, a long moan from each of them as their bodies tensed for those few pulsating seconds of ecstasy. Their breath fell heavy as the sweat from their bodies blended with the water that fell from above; their gaze meeting as they rested upon each other's forehead, giggling and staring with love and nuzzling noses in the last moments of their passionate hour.

* * *

…_**zzzz…...zzzz**_

* * *

In the eight or so dorms of Fairy hill that Erza had purchased for her own personal use, somebody had just had woken up from her erotic dream, and her first real one by that, as she dreamt of an un-fictional character, but Natsu of all people, which was strange enough. Weren't they on a job together or something along those lines…

There in her bed she lied, still in her swimsuit from yesterday and all…it seemed the tenacious headache still lingered, upon a closer look she noticed that her body was awkwardly situated on the bed, rolling over to her side, which resulted in rolling out of the bed and stumbling on to the floor while hitting her head. Somehow she had chosen to sleep on the very edge of the bed, Erza must have been really tired when she slept…but wasn't she on a job? If so how had she ended up here, in her own home? Wasn't the location of the photo agency pretty far away? She couldn't remember correctly, everything seemed very vague and foggy in her mind, ah damn! How her head hurt! Did she hit her head or something?

It also seemed her balance was messed up as well, as she could barely walk a few meters without stumbling onto a wall. Walking over to the night stand where all her pills and medicines are located, Erza opened up the drawer and started fiddling around in there, she found old recipes of previous armor purchases and certificates of authorities as she purchased her weapons from registered blacksmiths only. Soon she found what she was looking for and was left dazed over the fact that the small canister of pain killers was empty. With her head ache and frustration growing Erza decided that a hot shower would be the best option as of now, because waking the other girls over her selfish needs would be very rude and not at all fitting.

Stumbling over to the shower area, the Titania didn't care to change out of her outfit, after all she was clad in a bikini...and the sheets of her bed...A bath was really what she needed it seemed. Taking some time and effort in discarding the bed sheets that were as if plastered onto her skin, then it hit her, she was soaked in sweat, from head to toe. Ugh, it was disgusting, leaving the sheets behind in her room, Erza trekked to the shower rooms, while making sure to not waking anybody by stumbling over some random threshold, the Fairy hills dormitory could really need some renovation, really.

Soon the light from the changing room hallway was in her sights and the feeling of temporary freedom hit her senses. Stepping in and getting a full blast of the cold stone floors on her bare feet, it was chilly but she would get used to it in a few moments, even faster when the warm water would be released upon her.

Hah, it truly felt refreshing, the warm water just seemed to magically wash away all her troubles and pent up stress, at times like these Erza would just switch of her mind and simply enjoy the passing moment. However. She couldn't. Unfelt emotions ran wild in her heart and mind, confusion and worry where all common themes. Why had she dreamt of Natsu? It was sure to have a sensible explanation; they were on a job, and...What then? Right Mira, she sent her, and seemingly Natsu too...well whatever, she would just have to talk to Mira about the details, as her own mind had kind of reset itself. Which was strange...

In the midst of her brooding, her sharp ears sensed footsteps, they were close really close! The Titania's heart almost stopped beating, scenes from her wet dream flooded her mind and a deep blush started taking place around her neck and slowly worked itself towards her cheeks. What if the person was Natsu? This wasn't a dream; he couldn't just stroll about and have sex with girls in showers. And who said she was going to have sex with him, well, it is supposed to be very stress relieving according to Mira...But, no, she wouldn't! But what if he overpowered her? Well, then it couldn't be helped after all...

"Hello, is there anybody here," Blue tufts of hair was what greeted the bikini clad knight, out of all people it was Juvia, how disappointing...Erm, how nice! Juvia is here...The Titania was blushing and her eyes was somewhat resembled the ones of a feline. "...Hello..." The Titania said, with no sensible excuse for why she was standing there in a bikini, to keep the current conversation rolling and prevent it from reaching why she was showering at twelve am in the morning, or night, as it really depended on how a person thought.

However. There was apparently no conversation to speak of, as the water mage with a burning passion for Gray just nodded her head solemnly and knowingly while continuing to stare at the scarlet knight. "Juvia understands!" Erza was baffled, what was it that Juvia understood of the situation which she herself could not understand.

"Understand what..." When Juvia heard the Titania's words she once again nodded out of understanding. "So it's your first time." It was more of a statement than the question it was. Erza didn't get it, first time? What was the water mage hinting at?

Erza was just about to explain herself but was cut short but the water woman. "There is no more reason to speak Erza, Juvia understands, you had an erotic dream and now you are feeling dirty!" Erza face just exploded into a bright new shade of red, not in her wildest dreams...had she expected Juvia to find out. Before any further misunderstandings were made, the scarlet knight had a burning desire to put things strait, meaning she had to lie.

"Juvi-" Once again, Erza was abruptly cut short. "Juvia has them all the time, in her dreams Juvia and Gray _interact _on so many levels. Afterwards, Juvia feels so dirty she needs to shower~!" Expectedly, the buxom water mage started wiggling her butt as well as the rest of her lush body. Erza thought it was for extra emphasis or something along those lines...

Unable to keep her curiosity in the madly blushing knight went ahead and asked Juvia about what was on her mind: "S-so, you j-just had one, about G-Gray?" She got no concrete reply; instead the water mage simply nodded her head again. Erza face started regaining some of its original color, feeling astounded about the fact that Juvia could casually reveal such a sensitive piece of information about herself. But wasn't it obvious, she trusted her, with all her being. Juvia knows that her secret was safe with her. That made Erza truly happy, after all the happiness from the bonds of friendship was what all her ideals were about. But somewhere deep whit in her consciousness, Erza knew that she was just being insincere whit herself.

Just as the water mage was about to leave the Titania to herself, the view of her spacing out really troubled Juvia and she wanted to do something to make her feel better. Then it her, Juvia Lockster was a genius! Erza would most likely feel better if all the other girls would be assembled in to a...first annual girl's night of Fairy hills! Ah, this was going to be so much fun!

* * *

_**Some hours earlier, at a fancy restaurant in the center of Magnolia...**_

* * *

Two figures were seated deep whit in the restaurant, seemingly chatting very discreetly. Making sure that no other soul recognizes neither their voices nor their appearances. The area they were seated in had been reserved off to normal guests or diners. A lone, almost burned out candle was illuminating the table. The drops of wax slowly running downwards towards to the candle stick. A third man in a white tuxedo stood by and watched the whole conversation. He was Mike, Stuarts man slave, the other two figures were namely Stuart, the queer photographer and latter was Jason, the representative from Sorcerer weekly. Jason was clad in an elegant suit of smoking, while having a marine blue tie that matched the rest of his proper outfit. Stuart was clad in a similar way although with a green tie. Which didn't really match with the purple suit he wore, the point of this meet was being incognito, but oh well.

Stuart was the one to first bring up the utterly serious and equally sensitive topic of the evening. The item which was going to trade owners relatively soon was present. Stuart had a large envelope, while Jason had a suit case. "Jason, now it's time for me to reveal the items which seems to have piqued your attention, don't you think? The photographer said with a greedy grin.

"Yes, that would be cool, do you have them with you, because that would be even cooler!" The representative from Sorcerer weekly made sure to keep his excitement down, by that it meant that him uttering the word cool was less emphasized...

"But of course, you are a business man, I am a business man, I am sure we can come to an amiable agreement which both parties will enjoy!" That was a lie of course! Stuart had no intention of making it cheap, ten million jewels, for all the 8 _highly_ suggestive pictures. And the fact that Jason was almost certainly willing to get his hands on the photographs so bad that he would pay the desired amount of cash.

"Stuart-kun, I have your requested amount of money here, in this very cool suitcase for added coolness." With that said the blonde young man from sorcerer weekly brought up the suitcase he had been holding onto and placed it on the table, with the money facing Stuart.

"Mike, count it!" The tall man did as he was told, and took the suitcase with the one thousand jewel bills and started counting. After a few moments the tall slender man responded to Stuart with his ordinary monotone voice: "Yes, everything seems in order, Stuart-sama, you can feel free to hand over the envelope to Jason-sama, if you so please!" The man clad in the purple suit nodded and slid the envelope smoothly yet discreetly across the table, and towards the almost fainting reporter. Jason grasped the paper envelope as fast as it came into his reach, handling it like some treasured relic lost to the ages, well, one could argue that it held the same worth as a relic.

Carefully Jason removed the seal of the envelope and slid out the supposedly legendary pictures. His eyes widened to the size of tea saucers when he soaked in all the information the pictures provided. "C-cool, the Titania and the legendary Salamander, who would have thought? Stuart-kun, I will publish these as the next issue of Sorcerer weekly rolls out!" The photographer reached out his hand to seal the deal done and over with...

* * *

_**Back at the Fairy hills bath...**_

* * *

"So, Juvia? How did everyone else end up here again?" Erza was surprised at the fact that the water mage had succeeded in assembling all the girls. Juvia herself, Levy and Wendy. While it was nice, all Erza honestly wanted to do was to sleep, she had been was lacking in that particular department recently. And this little assembly didn't really help.

"Ah, Juvia noticed that Erza was feeling a bit down, so Juvia decided that if everyone would come and join, she would be in better spirits." Aww, that was so thought full of her, Fairy tail truly was the best guild. Nobody would let you keep your sadness pent up inside of yourself. With a smile, the Titania didn't proceed to bail from the bath and head to bed.

The activity Juvia had decided on was a socializing session while in the bath. Everyone had stripped out of their night gowns and thrown them in a messy pile on the moist marble floor. Juvia's hair had gotten soaked and the locks had slackened into a pure sheet of silky blue that stuck to her skin flawlessly. Erza thought the water mage was slightly better looking than normal. Levy was reading, while in the bath, the book enthusiast made sure to not splash or in any other way make water elevate so that her piece literature would get soaked. Wendy was awfully quiet, well; the sky dragon slayer wasn't the most talkative of people. That much was clear, but now she was spacing out. Before Erza could question the petite bluenette, the cup in Juvia's hand distracted her.

The water mage was taking huge gulps of the beverage inside the cup, seemingly enjoying it to the fullest. Erza was curious to what the substance inside the cup with the 'I heart Gray motive', as it seemed really warm and calming for the senses. "Juvia, what kind of drink are you having?" Upon hearing this Juvia Lockster was filled with new powers and a slight red tinge could be found upon her cheeks. "Oh, this is not a drink, well, it maybe is. But the reason this is Juvia's favorite drink is because it is named something-something Gray!" It seemed Juvia was taking her level of obsession with anything Gray related to a whole new level.

Erza replied with an understanding nod, all the girls in the bath had someone they held dear to their hearts. Levy for example, she had Gajeel, if one wasn't an idiot or was hopelessly dense, it was very obvious to see that Levy was crazy about the iron dragon slayer, Juvia had...well...it didn't matter if you was stupid or mentally disabled, she loved her Gray-sama, and lastly there was Wendy, and she was too young for that kind of stuff. In the midst of her spacing out, Erza didn't notice that everyone had fallen silent.

They were all staring at her buxom chest; for it was subtly floating on the water surface...The scarlet knight had removed her hands from her chest and stretched them out along the edge of the pool, thus allowing them free reign. Juvia was only amused and were giggling madly, it was Levy who had seemingly put away her book and lost all the gleam full luster from her otherwise lively eyes, Wendy was the same, although she was getting all flustered and hid her own chest behind her slender arms in a cross hold.

Levy was the first one to point out the incident. "E-Erza, you-you're, TITS!" The last part was spoken in a high pitched tone, which instantly caught the Titania's ears, and at the mention of tits Erza instinctively made a move to look down at her own. What she spotted really made her flushed. There they were, innocently floating around in the warm water of the bath. "Kya, w-what are you guys looking at?" After all she couldn't help that her boobs were a bit too big...And all the steam from the hot water didn't really help the situation, as Erza's chest only got more sticky and firm.

"Ah, Juvia knows the feeling, this always happens when she baths too!" As she said that, the water mages own set of canons shamelessly plopped up to the surface. As her hand were above the surface to emphasize her sentence.

The script mage was going green in agony, here she was with her ironing board, and so was Wendy, how could they complain about their lush chests. The feeling of manifesting her own standing as a woman grew and Levy spoke out: "What's the _big _deal anyway, flat is justice, right Wendy?" The sky dragon slayer may be young but she had a manifested herself as one of the more brighter members Fairy tail on an early stage upon joining the guild, therefore, she immediately snapped up Levy's remark about flat chests.

"Um, Levy-san, could you please not group me with yourself quite yet, as I still have 4 years to grow!" Wendy said with a embarrassed tone while she covered up her chest as the ever so growing blush that were creeping up her neck.

Wendy's words pierced Levy's spirit like a poisoned javelin. Not in her wildest expectations had the script mage thought that Wendy's words could sting this much! And the worst of all, they were true! How could Gajeel like a flat ironing board girl like herself, oh the agony...

However, Neither Juvia or Erza quite understood what the commotion was about, all they saw was Wendy blushing madly and Levy sulking with half of her face under the water surface.

**-ooo-**

Shortly after Wendy suddenly excused herself from the bath and called it a night, this didn't damper the mood, not in the slightest. Instead they could now do stuff they otherwise couldn't...Like making Levy read out loud from that new book of hers. "Levy, would you mind sharing some scenes from your book?" Erza smoothly suggested, not wanting to make it obvious that she craved after some stimulation. How could she not, after that dream of hers.

_And so the girls night continued on, the female members of Fairy tail continued on with their female bonding and reading of literature with pornographic content, as the night slowly faded into daylight..._

_Tomorrow was a new day full of opportunities, and Erza was looking forward to bying to new edition of Sorcerer weekly and reading it with Lucy, maybe they would find a really hot mage inside..._

* * *

**AN: 16 reviews! On the first chapter, holy mother of God! I didn't expect this fic to become this popular, but oh well, it's not like I don't like it or anything! ;) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, love ye all! **

**Thanks to the popularity of this story, I shall now announce that I am from this chapter ownward implementing side pairings! Please by all means state who for an example Gray should end up with, in the chapter I kind of hinted what my general thoughts about the side pairings were, but that doesn't mean they have to be. Please state what you're oppinion is on the side pairings in the reviews! :)**

**Sooooo, how did you guys like my scene of sexual nature? It was my first one ever so yeah, but please tell me if you liked it. **

**And I would like to apologize to everyone for the lateness of this update! I am sorry.**

**Reviews are Love!**


	3. Chapter 3: Officially dating

**Passed boundaries**

**Chapter three: Officially dating**

**Important note at the end.**

* * *

The snapping of branches could be heard as a certain pink haired dragon slayer was trekking about in the woods outside Magnolia. His trust worthy partner Happy was right behind his heels, complaining and bickering. However, they both were wandering aimlessly around the lush forest, in the middle of the night Magnolias uncharted woods could be kind of scary according to Happy, but Natsu didn't care enough to stop. Different thoughts ran loose inside his feeble mind. They were much scarier than some dark forest. To be precise Erza delivering the supreme punishment of death to him was what his brooding circulated through, and in order to escape he had chosen to make a run for it. Along with Happy, as he was considered Natsu's partner in crime.

"Natsu, I am tired...! How much longer till we are at the lake?" Happy whined while flying down from the air and landing gracefully on his partners shoulder, with the look of fatigue playing out on his feline face. They both had been wandering since midnight, then Natsu had gotten the bright idea of going out on a fishing voyage, while that was a very much welcomed idea, Happy was almost certain that all the fishes in the nearby water sources were soundly asleep...But one couldn't complain about fish, yeah? Although, when Natsu refused to stop for hours then it was time to complain, at least that's what happy thought.

"Just a little longer so stop complaining, besides, you can fly!" The dragon slayer was irked, here he was, bringing happy to a fishing trip, and all the blue furred exceed could do was to complain non-stop about how far they needed to walk...Well, Happy wasn't at fault here. Natsu knew that Happy was aware of their usual fishing spot being way back in the Magnolia forest. Besides this wasn't really a fishing trip, it was more of an escape from Erza. Yup, it always come down to that, the best strategy was to wait out the storm. Especially when he was the one who had possibly caused it in the first place.

Happy frowned at the dragon slayers obvious lack of knowledge about exceed aero magic, and proceeded to give the rosette a piece of his mind. "So what, you have legs, same thing different name!"

Natsu got lost in the midst of Happy's remark; the dragon slayer may not be the most sensible of individuals but the human anatomy which he almost had memorized. And he was pretty sure legs weren't the same as wings. But he didn't have the stamina to bicker with Happy; instead he just wanted to find a nice place to sleep.

"...Natsu...say something..." Natsu and Happy had been partners for as long as they both remembered, and of course one of them would notice when the other was under weather. In this case it was Natsu, he had been awfully quiet this whole trip...ever since they left that big fancy building with comfortable seats with cushions, Natsu had been checking behind his shoulder every-now and then, was he afraid?

Natsu never was afraid of anything, except Gildartz and Erza...who he had been carrying on his back, according to the rosette she had hit her head and was unconscious...At first it didn't seem like a big deal but Natsu was frantic and a bit panicky the whole time, kept mumbling on about pictures and gay people.

"Sorry, Happy I am just thinking about something." The dragon slayer casually said, like thinking was what he did on a regular basis. This wasn't missed by the blue feline and the exceed let out a shrill shriek! "EEEEEH," Natsu didn't appreciate this in the slightest and hurriedly placed a hand in front of Happy's maw to hinder him from revealing their position, after all _she_ might hear!

Upon releasing his hand the blue feline uttered his restrained sentence: "Natsu, you almost never think outside of fights, are you sick?"

"Shhh," Happy was perplexed why was Natsu hushing him? "She might hear!" As he said his warnings his index finger was moved in front of his nose to signal Happy about shutting his trap!

"Who… Erza right? Natsu what have you done? I don't want to die!" Happy was spot on, he didn't want die either. That's why they were in the middle of the woods, instead of being soundly asleep. Locking his onyx orbs with Happy's own, Natsu attempted to calm him down. "It's alright, if she can't find you, then nothing will happen!" Natsu's words were in vain. The blue exceed was certain that the Titania would find him either way.

"But she has a flying armor, she will find us!" Happy exclaimed slightly panicked. Only to continue his rant: "Does this have anything to do with you dropping off Erza in the Fairy hills dormitory?" Suddenly the pink haired dragon slayers pacing come to a stop, while finding the half-moon in the night sky more interesting than Happy's face at the moment Natsu spoke: "I...don't know, maybe, but one thing I know is that she will be pissed when she wakes up!" Happy just kept staring at his partner for a minute, both in disbelief and amazement.

After a brief while Happy spoke. "Then why did you hit her head so much, when we were there," The blue exceed was almost getting a fit, everyone knew that he and Natsu always did everything together and were almost inseparable, therefore it was important for Natsu to keep a good reputation with Erza, because Natsu's reputation was also his reputation. "Now she will be noticing the lumps on her head and come after us!"

Having now turned around, Natsu was facing Happy again, but instead of helping with coming up an escape plan, he just sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Aha...We are kind of screwed aren't we?"

* * *

_**Two hours earlier, at Fairy hills...**_

* * *

"Happy!" Natsu said. "Don't bump her head, dumb ass! She might wake up!" Natsu was on the verge of shedding manly tears of fear as his partner kept maneuvering Erza up the stairs of Fairy hills. They both knew very well that Fairy hills was strictly a girls only dormitory and any and all boys would get punished, extra severe if Erza was the inquisitor. But here they were, Natsu holding her arms and happy by her feet, making the rest of her body dangle dangerously.

Erza was asleep which was good. The Fairy hills people were asleep which was also good. Erza's room was on the last floor which was bad, especially if the stairs were really narrow and with a lot of unforeseen dead angles.

"Sorry, my wings are kind of frisky!" The flying feline said with an apologizing tone.

"Sorry, won't cut it when she wakes up!" The pink haired dragon slayer said. He knew that stating the obvious wouldn't help them that much, but it was good for the morale.

They were halfway up the stairs and nearing the top, that was when Natsu's foot trampled a very creaking floor board and the loudest and most ear deafening sound echoed through the compound. If somebody were the spot them now, their agenda would be more than suspicious. Meaning they couldn't escape the situation and would get busted. After all, who the hell except he and Happy would attempt smuggling in an unconscious Titania inside her own home in the dead of the night?

Soon they reached the end of the stairs and threshold of the last floor were Erza's dorm was located. Of course Natsu had to be his clumsy usual self and tripped at said threshold. With a violent crash Natsu planted his face on the wooden floor, which turned out to be really hard. Happy who was holding Erza's feet in front couldn't keep afloat in the air and dropped the Titania the next second.

Neither of them said a word. Instead Natsu had shut his eyes and rolled over to the wall to protect his spine from any potential kicks or any other form of pummeling Erza was going to use his body for. The blue exceed was still flying, but was as if frozen. Not daring to move a limb Happy carefully took a look at the scarlet knight's body. She was still lying there, which was good. Her breathing was still calm which was also good. Happy's night vision as a cat was very useful for situations like these. With some assurance of the Titania's still ongoing slumber, Happy whispered to Natsu with suspiciously squinted eyes. "I Think she is still, you know," As he spoke, Happy used his paws to form an X signaling Natsu that Erza was still down for the count.

The rest of the conversation ended up consisting of paranoid whispers.

"Happy, don't bump her head anymore, kay?" Natsu said in a low tone. Happy was too frantic to speak, the exceed only nodded out of understanding. Soon they were at Erza's room. Or rather, rooms. Somebody had connected eight dorms into one gigantic suite, full of mannequins wearing all the armor sets Erza didn't use anymore. They were all cool; the dragon slayers gaze caressed each set with amazement.

Obviously, to hinder their detection Natsu and happy had decided not to turn the lights on, because of that it was hard to see where they were headed. The room still kept unfolding before the duo in the darkness, Natsu was bummed out that Erza's collection of armor came to an end as the initial bedroom area neared. Soon they could drop Erza off and leave!

"Hey, Natsu, Erza's room is bigger than our house! Why is that?" Happy asked out of innocence or jealousy it depended on how one looked at his question.

"Well, Erza is...Erza and she is S-class, so the jobs pay better, and stuff!" Natsu's answer was vague, but good enough for Happy. The feline contently nodded once again as he analyzed his dragon slaying partners answer.

"In that case, hurry up and become S-class in the upcoming exams, I don't wanna live in a shack anymore!" The feline stated his remark about Natsu's property, much to the rosettes spite.

"My house isn't a shack, it's a...house!" Matter of facts it was a house, it was just slightly messy inside, not enough to be qualified as a shack!

"Compared to Erza's place it is!" This argument across Erza's _not_ so unconscious body was escalating and the place it was headed wasn't pretty.

In the midst of the glaring fest, Natsu nor happy noticed that the Titania had awaken.

"What about my place?" That very moment time stopped for the blue flying feline and the rosette dragon slayer. Since when was Erza awake? In a matter of milliseconds did Natsu's brain process the situation and preceded to action, the results were...

"EEEEH" As the dragon slayer let out a shriek fitting for a girl, he flung his arms up in the air, effectively letting go of his grip on the now awake Titania. Happy was frozen in place; Natsu came to the conclusion that Happy like him thought that Erza's vision could only register moving things. Therefore if they stood dead still she would walk away. The theory had not been tested, so it was not one hundred percent fool proof.

However, Erza did not get up. She was asleep again, and...Snoring? Tears of joy ran down Happy's cheeks, as the feline thanked Mavis that Erza hit her head again. Natsu's clumsiness could be of use sometimes.

After a while, Natsu started breathing again. It felt great. Neither Happy nor Natsu spoke another word, they simply picked Erza up again and left on her bead to sleep, she was still snoring soundly. Which was a good sign? Without further ado they left throughout Erza's window located next to her bed. Oh, and the clothes were still on, bikini and all...She wouldn't mind right? And just like that Natsu shrugged it off.

* * *

_**The next day...**_

* * *

**The **pearly rays of the sun played on Erza's eye lids and woke her up to a fine morning. There had been no more strange dreams, which was a well needed relief for the scarlet knight. It took only few steps towards the window pane for Erza to see and feel the difference. The air smelled earthy and the dry and drooping plants were now boasting of their new found youth.

The Fairy hills mornings were the best, but not like they were when Hilda was still among them. The thought brought a slight tinge of sadness on to the Titania's senses, but it didn't last long until it was all a memory. Levy, Juvia and Wendy as well as the rest of Fairy tail was there for her. It was soothing to know to know that there were people that cheered on for one from the bottom of their hearts.

A stray ray of sun hit her chestnut eyes, Erza narrowed them slightly to hinder the sun to shine down on her chocolate orbs. What she needed the most was a brief talk with Mira about yesterday and a slice of Strawberry cheesecake, no, make that a strawberry parfait. It seemed that the weather was going to be surprisingly hot today; after all it was almost spring.

Erza was just about to leave her dorm when she noticed that the towel from the bath still firmly clutched her figures, it was a short towel...

If one were to bend down and take a look at her from the floor they would surely see something they absolutely shouldn't see, well, it wouldn't matter. They were going to die anyhow if that happened.

"Re-quip!" The name of the Titania's signature spell echoed throughout her dorm and died out about where the stairs down to the first floor began. A flash of silver colored magic obscured her figure as her new outfit was re-quipped on to her body. She had picked her usual daily gear to sport; a sturdy steel cuirass and her white blouse and marine blue skirt to go along with that, on her feet were her good old black leather long boots.

As Erza trekked down the stairs to join in on the breakfast that...let's see. Juvia's was preparing, her breakfasts were simply the best! Why? She didn't know, but she just poured in so much love when she cooked it tasted godly, which in reality made Erza slightly jealous...

In the Fairy hills kitchen there where three figures sitting and standing respectively. Levy was seated in the far end of the table, and sipping on a coffee with great vigor while passing small talk with Juvia, Wendy who didn't eat her breakfast until everyone had assembled shot Erza a beaming smile just as the Titania passed the threshold.

"Good morning, Erza-san!" The sky dragon slayer said.

Erza replied with a smile of her own playing out on her face. "Good morning, Wendy, Everyone!" She was welcomed with a wave from Levy as her mouth was busy drinking from her coffee. Juvia also replied to her greeting with a nod.

The first on to offer her some breakfast was Juvia who was standing beside a kitchen isle preparing a sandwich for Gray, salami and cheese? Huh, the water mage was so very dedicated to her Gray-sama, which warmed the knight's heart.

"Erza, do you want some breakfast? Juvia felt extra happy today so she made lots of dishes!" And it was true, Juvia had really put her soul into this, it was a shame she had to decline though!

"Thanks, but no thanks, I have some pressing business at the guild to attend to!" Which was talking to Mira, about the whole business with the photo shot and such?

"Oh, Juvia understands, we will see you at the guild later then!" With that said the Titania set out through the wooden door of Fairy hills which functioned as the entrance.

Half way down the path to Magnolia, Erza remembered that she forgotten asking about some coffee to go, after all Levy's looked so good! In a blast of craving for caffeine the scarlet knight made her way through the bustling streets of Magnolia, towards her favorite coffee shop. It was a busy day, people went to and fro, as the Titania paced towards town all the eyes were on her. Not in the usual way, the civilians were ogling her in a sense of mockery and what seemed like pity? However, Erza paid no mind; she wanted her early morning coffee.

Soon she arrived and the warm air of the coffee shop hit her face, as well as the aroma from the crushed coffee beans from the brewer. At this time of the the shop didn't have that many visitors, only a few frequents who were there and they were eating a full fledged breakfasts. There were apparently no one in line before her so Erza took the initiative.

The clerk was a small man in his thirties dusty blond hair and no facial hair, he was a nice fellow and counted Erza in as one of his regulars, which resulted in some discounts for the scarlet knight. But however, it seemed this morning he was extra generous.

"Hello what would you like...Erza?" Her name was spoken in an unexpected tone, the dusty blond coffee shop owner seemed to be really surprised at her presence. But Erza didn't care at the moment, she just wanted her very much needed coffee! After a minute or two of staring in disbelief the shop clerk went ahead and...praised her? What the hell?

"Erza, were amazing! Consider wearing bikini's more often!" This didn't make any sense! From which source had her favorite coffee shop owner gotten to know that she wears bikini's? It was probably Levy...who in turn had told Lucy...and Lucy likes very much to spread things around.

"I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now." Whatever, Lucy and Levy could be punished later, in fact it was kind of nice getting _feminine_ compliments for once.

"Of course, here you go Erza, an Irish coffee with lots of skimmed milk and white chocolate shavings!" Offering a warm smile towards the clerk, Erza reached out and grabbed her drink, while using her other free hand to place a one hundred jewel bill on the counter.

"Keep the change." And with that said Erza took her first well deserved sip of her warm beverage. A sharp taste flooded her mouth but was fended of by the skimmed milk and chocolate shavings, everything was in perfect synch, although the dryness reminded her of something she might have drunk before, how strange.

As she continued to savor her coffee, the dusty blond man just kept sweeping the counter with his hand. Soon his blue eyes meet her chestnut ones and a very brief stare contest started.

"Say, Erza-san, have you...eh...read the Sorcerer today?" As a matter of fact, no she hadn't, but she would later in the guild, as Mira had most likely purchased a copy already.

"No, I haven't, is there something interesting on today?" Erza stated.

"Ehum, not really, have a nice day Erza!" She proceeded to wave her good-bye and step out of the shop and head towards the guild.

* * *

_**Fairy tail guild hall...**_

* * *

There were no air-borne mugs of ale or beer that were being hurled around, no flipped over chairs or tables, everything was death silent, in an ear deafening way. Everyone of the guild members were clumped together around the bar counter, waiting for something in great anticipation.

Cana had chosen to drink out of a flagon of booze instead of usual barrel, the barrel would obscure her vision of the event that was currently going on. Elfman hadn't uttered man a single time, what the members of Fairy tail were doing was not manly at all. Lisanna was more curious than usual, therefore she had taken on her bird soul to get a better line of sight on the happening. Everyones attention was directed at Mirajane who was standing in her usual spot flipping through the pages of the newest edition of Sorcerer weekly. It was the front page that had piqued everyones attention, Natsu and Erza was on it...

"Well, did you find anything? We wanna know!" Gray exclaimed, he would never miss on a chance of putting Natsu in an awkward position, ever!

"N-no, I am afraid there isn't anything more on them, sorry Gray!" The barkeep said in her usual gentle voice. But in vain that is, Gray didn't believe her for a second.

"Mira, hand over the magazine, is there something on Juvia?" In an attempt of confusing Mirajane, Gray used his cunning to manipulate the barkeeps sense of passion for all the supposed guild romances to obtain said magazine. Surprisingly it worked, Gray felt like a bad guy now but it would all go away once he found some awkward articles on Natsu.

"Gray, wait, give that back!" But the ice mage was too caught up in the article he had found, on the second page...

There were Natsu and Erza kissing...and Erza was straddling Natsu who kissed back, Gray could feel the sweet, sweet taste of supreme victory, never again would Natsu win an argument, Gray would just bring this up: Hey Natsu remember the article were you kissed Erza?

Cana was pissed off, Gray and Mira were having secrets without letting in on her, what a travesty!

"Gray, let me see!" As she said that the card mage grasped the magazine violently, and proceeded to read the article and bot just ogle at the pictures like some idiot earlier had done. Cana used a table as a podium to start preaching on the magazines contents. The first thing she read was the headline: The _hottest_ mage couple! The guild just looked at her in disbelief to only moments later getting the innuendo and bursting into a roaring fit of laughter. The only one that was tall enough to snatch the paper out her hands were Elfman who did accordingly, and continued to read the page with great enthusiasm.

"HAHAHA," His fit of laughter picked up again. "Here it says they married on a beach! HAHAHA." He said while his manly guffaws echoed throughout the hall. Elfman was unable to hold it in any longer and proceeded to roll on the floor while holding his aching stomach out of all the laughter. Lisanna saw her opportunity to get a look at the article.

Lisanna flew down and snatched the paper before anyone else did, and continued to read, but instead of anything mildly interesting she found out something that she rather would not. Her face took a turn towards the Titania's hair on pictures.

Lisanna could only utter. "...P-pregnant...!" This only worsened her embarrassed state as all her blood pumped towards her head. Igniting it like a light bulb in the red light district. The guild didn't laugh, or speak, only staring at the smallest member of the Strauss family.

Then it happened, the worst Fairy tail brawl that had been witnessed started and would surely make any dragon slayer jealous! Everyone wanted the magazine. In the midst of all the nose bleed and crashing tables no one noticed that the paper was kicked and flung over to the second floor of the guild, and on the railing a short mustached figure stood, judging and cursing his luck.

"HEY, WHAT IN MAVIS NAME IS HAPPENING? YOU BRATS!" the fighting stopped and all the guild mates gazes were upon him. The magazine he caught out of the air, and started reading. After a few pages he reached the interesting part.

His reaction was _slightly_ different from the others. Mira thought he would squeal in delight at the sight of Erza in a bikini but...no.

Makarov stopped reading, and stared at his guild members. "The pictures are nice! But this crap is bad for my heart!" Just as he said that he grasped the left side of his chest in a motion of agony and fell onto the floor only to be caught by Mirajane in a bridal style hold. Makarov hadn't gotten a heart attack, thank Mavis but it was close. Mira left with Makarov in to his study, the master needed some rest, he probably was shocked, maybe.

Every guild member present read the situation and seated themselves and started gossiping wildly with Cana in the lead. Somehow the guild was all clean and no signs of the fierce fighting where there to be seen.

Expectedly, the heavy foot steps of Erza's armor could be heard from outside, meaning she was close. The guild was not gripped by fear as much as they were exited to see the Titania's reaction, but one thing they knew, it wouldn't be pretty.

The guilds swing doors were swung open and the scarlet knight emerged, she was very surprised to not see any early morning fights of any sort. But instead there was an aerie aura in the guild, the atmosphere could be cut with a knife and that was the sign of something going on. Gray who was seated with his bare back towards her started spouting nonsense.

"No, no, no, the way I heard it they are officially dating!" He said to everyone but Erza.

Now Elfman felt brave enough to join in. "No, they are already married, on a beach!" By the moment Erza was getting more and more confused.

The final drop was delivered by Cana. "No, wasn't she pregnant?"

The Titania's interest had grown over the past seconds and now she didn't have any patience left. While slamming her armored fist on to the table Gray was seated at she stated: "I demand you tell me what's going on!" The ice mage was no fool and pointed at the item that had started all of the ruckus in the first place.

Erza walked up to the now very tattered issue of Sorcerer weekly and picked it up hastily. Her face turned for the worse as she discovered that she and Natsu was on the front page, deciding that a view on the front page wasn't enough to figure out what the deal with the pregnancy and dating was, Erza flipped the two first pages...

Soon, her face resembled her hair more and more as she read on. First the pictures then the text under them. She was mumbling to herself as she read on and it seemed that steam was erupting from her ears. "...Dating...Official?" Her heart stopped for a moment, now everyone in the guild seemed to be very daunted by the fact that Erza now knew, maybe she would ventilate her anger out on them?

"W-where is Natsu?" The question was directed at Gray, between her nervous laughs and growing amount of tick marks Gray knew she was having a break down.

"I-I don't k-know, he was on a job with you since yesterday, y-yeah?" Gray stuttered.

"I see, tell me if he shows his face around. I need to _talk_ with him!" With that said the Titania re-quipped into her black wing armor and walked outside to find Natsu and _talk_ with him, this was probably the last time they ever saw Natsu...

**-ooo-**

_Now things were about to get even more complicated for the dragon and knight..._

* * *

**AN: And done, this chapter was the longest so far, but it was kinda hard to write to be honest.**

**Now to the important part. If anyone has a under reviewed story they want to get some crit on from other writers I have created a Fairy tail review game forum the link can be found on my profile page.**

**Have a nice Monday (they suck) and until next time!**

**Reviews are Love!**


	4. Chapter 4: Responsibility

**Passed boundaries**

**Chapter 4: Responsibility**

Reviews are love!

* * *

Today was a very exciting day for all of the members of Fairy tail. To begin with Erza was gone after Natsu, potentially Happy too, the master had fainted Lucy had yet to know about the whole sorcerer weekly business and while not being here, she was sure to find out through either Levy or any other source of gossip. Well, the thing was that the guild was sure Natsu would get really injured or even killed, Erza didn't look too happy with the magazine after all. Out of pure boredom or just plain excitement the rest of Fairy tail had started a betting competition about how the fire mage would fare…

"Mira, I am betting thirty thousand jewels on a swift decapitation!" Of course nobody realized how seriously screwed Natsu was. But instead came up with hilarious ways for the dragon slayer to get punished.

"Gray, thirty thousand…decapitation." Using her expertise as the bar keep Mirajane noted down everyone's bets and theories on Erza's retaliation. There was a big jar placed on the bar desk, inside lots and lots of scrunched together jewel bills and coins were being added. The stakes were starting to look good, all this week's job pays seemed to get thrown into this, Mira didn't necessary feel very guilty about this whole deal but instead saw it as an opportunity to get some new bar equipment, as most of the newly purchased stuff was broken asunder by all the frequent rowdy fights of Fairy tail.

"I bet ten thousand jewels on a nice and simple castration, if I win this I won't need to go on a job for the whole month!" Nab said overjoyed by the potential fact of not having to work.

"Are you trying to be funny or something? It isn't like you ever take a job, really!" Cana retorted back between her gulps of some booze with really high alcohol percentage. After hearing this Nab started sulking, a drunken Cana was the deadliest with words.

In the midst of the entire ruckus that was playing out, Levy who was the only one with sense still inside her head, tried to find Lucy. She was genuinely worried sick about her. She was probably the only one that knew about Lucy's big crush on Natsu, what if she had found out and _left the guild out grief?_ But on a second thought Lucy wouldn't do that, maybe. Anyhow, what the worrying part wasn't what she would do, but what would happen to the neutral relations in the guild?!

Shoving Jet and Droy out of the way, the script mage made her way towards Mira.

"Have you seen Lu-"All the voices were dispersed as the sought after celestial mage made her appearance, unexpectedly she was in a very jolly mood and was humming on a merry tune that was on her head, all this was analyzed in Levy's head and accordingly she drew the most sensible conclusion she came up with. Lu-chan hadn't read the magazine yet!

The spotlight was aimed at Lucy as well as every single gaze in the guild too. Poor thing, the blond probably couldn't even dream of something like this to ever happen, but it had. But that didn't mean all the other guild members weren't going to enjoy her sentimental breakdown.

"W-why is everyone staring…is there something on my face?" Lucy had every right to be worried, the reception she was getting wasn't normal.

The first one to greet her was Gray. "Yo Lucy, have you read the sorcerer yet?" Levy was struck by panic! If she read it would all be over! The script mage had to do something, anything, really!

"DON'T!" Levy's response was spoken in a very high pitched voice and was currently echoing throughout the guild hall. God, this was embarrassing!

The celestial mage was perplexed. "Why, I really looked forward to it, there seem to be lot of hype around this week's issue!" Ah, crap! What should she do? If this was to even have a chance of working she had to lie to Lu-chan, her best friend…

"Eh, you know, the same old boring stuff, only idiots and half wits read that rubbish!" Levy tried.

"Levy-chan, we both read that paper, are you calling us both stupid?" Damn it, Lucy is one of the few in the guild who is able connect the dots sometimes.

"What Levy is saying is that um...there is no good articles on this week and-" In the heat of the moment Mira overheard Levy and tried to help, but Lucy have had enough and cut her off.

"Fine, I will just read it later, geez!" Lucy sighed in defeat, how troublesome, her friends won't let her read her favorite paper, oh well, right now that doesn't matter. The celestial mage could feel a persistent head ache surfacing and needed something to cool her head off with, yeah something cool and refreshing like some...Soda, yup that would hit the spot today!

Both Levy and Mirajane could feel temporarily relieved for a second as Lucy trekked towards the bar and seated herself on one of the stools.

"Mira could you please fetch me a soda, will you?" Her cheek rested upon her palm as the blond patiently waited for her drink to appear. She would read the Sorcerer, just not now, maybe. If Levy didn't want her to read it then there had to be something really off about this weeks issue, every fiber in her body knew it was...

* * *

_**Some time later that day...**_

* * *

"Do you think she is there?" The blue feline just continued to stare at Natsu, after a while Happy decided to answer his partner. They were currently in the middle of the bustling Magnolia shopping district, a few blocks away were Fairy tail. While hiding behind a few crates from the morning deliveries to the restaurants, Natsu and Happy kept looking out for anyone who might know them, which came down to literally everyone in the town.

"Who?" Happy hissed back, they were not to be detected by anyone, and so long things had went pretty smoothly. With no Erza in sight, the duo could feel temporarily safe.

They had spent the entire night in the forest east of the city, but it proved hard to continue to reside in such place due to Happy's tragic hunting skills, he couldn't do the hunting himself because who would build the new house they would have to live in? Happy though moving in to the hut he and Lisanna had built but that was just a big no-no. So they had decided to live in the guild basement...It was a really bad plan according to Happy, but Natsu loved it!

"Erza of course! Who do you think we have been hiding from, Lucy?" Wasn't it obvious? Well apparently not for Happy.

"You know...Lucy can be pretty scary sometimes too!" The blue exceed had narrowed his eyes as he continued to speak. Happy was obviously trying to creep the pink haired dragon slayer out by spouting lies.

"What, no way she is always the one who is constantly scared! She ain't scary!" The rose haired mage was stating the obvious but Happy was very persistent about this.

"You know, that whip she carries around...Do you really think she uses it for fighting purposes, say?" Well, Natsu had though about that too, maybe she used it to scare away squirrels or potentially any birds? It would be very convenient to have on pick-nicks and such.

"Well, probably." They really should get moving by the way.

"Well you are wrong!"

Natsu was quick on the counter: "How come?"

"Well, in one of the books she likes to read, there was a scene when-" Happy was hushed by a weary Natsu, as much as the blue feline wanted to continue anyhow, his vigor was quickly drained as the reason for the rosettes interruption revealed itself or in fact _herself._

"Shhh, look there she is, oh crap, crap, crap, lay absolutely still, just as we planned and she wont see us!" The dragon slayer said while desperately put his index finger in front of his lips. Natsu was talking about the theory they had put together last night, now it was going to be tested in the field.

Shoving, head butting and potentially asking then head butting, Erza was about ten meters in front of the two. The silver trimmings of her black wing armor shimmered in the sun. Not only that but her matching blade was also shining, thankfully it was sheathed and in its scabbard for the time being. The Titania seemed positively furious and equally enraged. Much to the dragon and cats delight she was to engrossed in her furious hunt of the two to notice them. Before short she flew off using her armors powers.

But leaving behind a mess, some of her questioning victims had been head butted into fruit carts or even stands with wares and merchandise, thus creating a seemingly pillaged scene across the market place.

"As I was saying, in Lucy's book there-" Natsu once again interrupted the blue winged feline, who was just trying to tell him a mildly amusing story about Lucy's books and tastes.

"Did you see that? If we would have been spotted, then, then-" Now it was Happy's turn to cut off the salamander.

"Then we would have died?" The initial reply left Natsu grimacing as the nonexistent contents of his stomach twisted and turned in distaste.

"Yes, now we should really get moving or she might show up again, okay?!" Happy obliged, even though Natsu's plan was stupid and hollow, just like his head. The exceed agreed and followed his partner, whilst shrugging off any bad thoughts regarding the near future.

"But Natsu, you know...how are we going to get in unnoticed?" So far that was biggest fault with the plan. Even if they succeeded the guild basement was pretty unwelcoming. It was cold, there were no carpets, functional lights and most importantly food! There was food but it was raw, and it wasn't fish which was supposed to be eaten raw for all Happy cared.

"Well, we are just going to have to blend in! Around this time of the day, everyone is fighting over at the bar for the grilled chicken Mira is serving, so we are just going to slip by, it will be a breeze!" Natsu finished off with cheeky grin, like he would do in a situation like this, the habit of awkwardly rubbing the back of his head was also present...

Yet Happy could still find another fatal fault with his plan.

"But the grilled chicken is only served on Tuesdays and...today is..." Happy proceeded to use his paws to count the days of the week, only to double take as he reached Tuesday, this was done twice until it was confirmed that today was indeed Tuesday.

"Natsu you are right! Tuesday is today and...wait...how come you're thinking about things like these and using your head for once?" Happy's comment wasn't an understatement, if this day would have been like any other before it, Natsu would have been the one who was at the guild over chicken.

* * *

_**At the threshold of the guild, literally...**_

* * *

Everything seemed normal, Elfman, Cana, Gray and pretty much anyone else that came across the dragon slayers mind were present. All neatly lined up, well, the term was really stretched out in this case. There was a rowdy fight taking place. Levy was leading some small talking with Gajeel who in turn was staring out in to the fight, seemingly fuming about whether spending time with Levy or bashing in some skulls was more rewarding in the long run.

Avoiding any air-borne muggs or plates, the duo of dragon and cat, stealthily trekked about under tables and behind the chairs. The sound of The rosettes occasional groans of irritation, as he bumped his head into Happy's blue rear. The feline was apparently the one leading the operation it seemed.

"Move, damn it! We need to hurry!" Natsu explained.

"Stop stressing me out, this is all your fault Natsu!" The feline didn't know what the deal was, everyone was still bashing each other's heads in over at the bar.

"Then hurry, you see Lucy over there, we need her help if we are going to succeed!" Happy was not too sure about that, but whatever, as long as they successfully evaded Erza's wrath everything was all peachy.

What Natsu didn't notice was the twisted look on the celestial mages face as she flipped the pages of a certain magazine which she may or may not have been advised to not read. She had her soda with her, although it had spilled out on the floor thanks to her first initial outburst of reading the articles. Still thinking this whole thing was all a surreal mess, Lucy tried to get over the fact that Natsu's _girlfriend _wasn't her.

But out of all people, Erza is the one? They have zero to none chemistry together! While they share a childhood bond, it shouldn't by any means by enough to support any romantic feelings! But deep down Lucy was hurt, and saddened by the fact that Natsu had moved on. Which of course wasn't true at all, Natsu growing up? Bah.

Both Natsu and Happy was getting closer and closer to the worked up celestial mage, not knowing what sort of thing awaited them.

"Psst, Lucy, over here!" Said Natsu in discrete hushed tone, Happy was still hyped up from the earlier incident and remained silent while following behind Natsu in a somewhat awkward crouched manner.

In the midst of her theory crafting and dot connecting Lucy did a double take at the voice calling her name. Upon realizing it was Natsu, as nobody else she knew would do such a thing as sneak up behind her from under the table. A bitter sweet sensation was what the blond had to cope with, she was glad Natsu was here, but in a way she wasn't because now she had to ask questions!

She had the manners to start things off with the following: "What are you doing down there?" Natsu and Happy stared up at her relentlessly. All this staring was getting on her nerves, first the guild and now even Natsu and Happy was ogling her with their seemingly distressed faces.

The only answer she received was a very enthusiastic head shake from the dragon slayer, while he hushed with his index finger for her to keep quiet. It didn't work…it only proceeded to hurl spit on her face, but she didn't care. In a few minutes she would though, as Levy or any other guild member would surely notice.

"What are you doing down there? If you want to say something, then stand up and take a seat!" Lucy made sure to speak in her slightly ticked off tone to signal Natsu and his blue cat about her digress. Much to the duo's relief the guild mated didn't take any notice to Lucy's frustration.

Surprisingly enough Natsu kept his silence, while Happy spoke to her: "Lucy do you like frilly clothes?" Expectedly the blue felines question didn't make any sense. It was a fully understandable and correctly built question but in this particular situation it didn't.

"Well yeah, sometimes I find really cute outfits…what does this have to do with anything?" Right at the end of the sentence Happy started giggling madly, even though with his vague attempt to hinder this outbreak with his paws.

Then her above Fairy tail average intelligence started processing things…frilly? Natsu hadn't moved nor spoken this whole time, and was seemingly staring into space but…His stare was in level with the chair and…and…and...PERVERT!

"What are you talking about Happy? Of course Lucy likes frilly clothing, you can see it clearly if you-" In this short window of time, the celestial spirit mage had whacked Natsu so very hard he was flung several feet back and collided with the wooden wall of the guild hall. It all happened in an instant. Happy's fur was standing up straight out of the sheer spontaneousness of the action. One second he and Natsu talked about frilly clothes then...he..he was almost killed, almost!

The guild which of course now was in full alert and much more responsive to their surrounding than before hurried over to Natsu's crash site, a big crater had hollowed out some of the wood on wall and there were cracks stretching over to the floor wooden panes as well.

Nobody said anything, all baffled at the blonde's brutish behavior, she didn't usually behave this way.

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurt!" Natsu was sure he heard a crack that wasn't from the wall, more like from his nose? Collarbone? He didn't know.

"That's what you get for peeping at my underwear! You...You..." The dragon slayer cringed at the thought of having broken a rib or two and having to receive a Lucy kick, he pleaded to Happy to make her stop. However, his pleads were more recognizable as pained moans uttered through his clenched teeth.

"Be a MAN and receive your punishment Natsu, a MAN does not peep on a girls underwear unless he really needs to!" This got the muscular member of the Strauss family a swift jab to the side of his gut delivered by the newly arrived Mira as a sign of stop spouting unrefined sentences. Lucy was obviously_ hurt _in one way or another.

"But he didn't do anything! We just happened to spot your kinky underwear and...how can you wear that stuff anyway, do you want to impress somebody here? Gray? Maybe?" Happy chimed in.

"That doesn't put you two in a better spot, You two are coming with me!"

"NO WAY!" She said as Happy was silenced with yet another blow from her fist. "You two are coming with me!" Natsu who was beginning to regain his composure and rid himself from the black spots in the corner of his field of view, almost got a fit as his ears picked up the blonde's sentence.

Slowly he began to crawl away but instead of discretely shimmying his way over to salvation his attempt of escape was a wobbly jog towards the guild entrance. Lucy was not Lucy and that was a sign of great danger to his health and general well being. He didn't want to be kicked by her boots again! The heels hurt like hell!

"Oh no you don't!" In a matter of second Lucy had displayed her adept mastery of whip warfare and effectively caught Natsu's leg with her whip. The motion was so rapid the force behind it was enough to make Natsu fall face first to the ground.

The the spirit summoner mage proceeded to drag him away. Happy had been grasped by his neck skin and was playing dead to make Lucy let go, but it was all in vain. Lucy was going to have her revenge on them for pointing out her frilly undergarments.

"Gray! Save mee, I will do anything, I swear, just rescue me! N-Nooo. Where are you taking me Luce? I am sorry, it was Happy, I-" The dragon slayers head bumped into the threshold of the guilds back door, temporarily decking him.

Gray was to traumatized to do anything, he had just witnessed Lucy flip her shit! Lucy doesn't flip. Only complain about the circumstances regularly. He just hoped Natsu wasn't going to get too injured, the S-class exams were coming up and he would be damned if he would miss out on beating the fire mage to become S-class!

* * *

_**Day turned to dusk, yet there was still one mage who still didn't know of Natsu's fate...**_

* * *

Erza couldn't believe her eyes. What in the world? She had decided that a short trip back to the guild for some sweet cakes and other refreshments would help her concentration and such but what greeted her sights was not something out of the ordinary, quite the opposite actually. The level of surprise was not and overstatement.

There he was, in all her pride, the Fairy tail banner, flying in the wind from the pole on top of the guild compound. Right under it, there was a rope attached to the pole, and the rope was attached to a certain pink haired idiot.

She had been told that out of all people Lucy had done this. Right then her lust for revenge had vanished and a big question mark had clouded her mind. That was not important though, her primary objective now was to somehow snatch Natsu away from the guild. In order to do so, the scarlet knight had volunteered as a supposed _guard_ for the dragon slayer. Now that the rest of the guild was beginning to head to their homes, she could strike.

Currently she was located at top floor of Fairy tail, Natsu was dangling freely all engulfed in his motion sickness. His face taken a turn towards the sickly green.

"Re-quip!" A brilliant silver shine illuminated the roof and revealed Erza in her flame empress armor. The plan she constructed together was a simply one. Using her armors fire powers she would burn the rope and free the numb skull. Not a moment later she performed the required steps and Natsu fell down on to her arms, in a bridal style. But that was not all, the burnt off rope would imply that Natsu had freed himself.

The rosettes skin felt warm and sweaty upon contact and his face had returned to it's original creamy color. Without shouting the spell name, Erza re-quipped into her black wing armor and took off towards the Magnolia canal.

As she flew, the sun had set and the city lights had been turned on. Resulting in a yellow blur beneath them. Soon they arrived and Erza released Natsu from her hold and onto a nearby bench, before she herself took a seat while re-quipping back into her favorite conservative heart kreuz cuirass.

I took a good few minutes before Natsu truly regained his standard composure. He groaned as the fatigue of his limbs slowly faded while stretching out. Natsu had not started processing what was going on apparently, as he hasn't even noticed her presence on the bench they were seated on. The Titania knew that Natsu needed a few minutes to properly start functioning again, so she waited.

"Eh, uh, where am I?" Finally the rosette started looking around. Wondering why he wasn't dangling around high up in the sky anymore.

"You are at the West part of the Magnolia merchant district, beside the canal on a bench to be precise." This of course made the fire mage hurry up with his processing, why the hell Erza was there didn't get to him at all!

"Right...Don't kill me, at least let me explain!" Natsu pleaded out, however he was lucky it seemed.

"I won't, at least not anymore. I actually saved you, so be grateful!" By now Erza was resting her palm on her cheek while staring down the reflections of the city lights upon the water.

"Thank you then, it really felt strange being so high up in the air, I could even spot my house from there!"

"I can imagine. So does Lucy know about the magazine...wait that goes unsaid right? By now there is no way not to know about...that." Erza knew they were going to have a really hard time, that's why she had thought about this before hand.

"Lucy? I don't know, she didn't mention it...but that's not the reason she hung me up."

"Really?" The Titania didn't really expect anything sensible to come from the dragon slayers mouth, especially not something that could explain why he ended up where he did.

"Well you see, Happy brought up frilly clothing, and I happened to peep on her-" He was interrupted by a sharp sting of pain on his left temple where Erza had hit him with an armored fist. It really hurt damn it! Why did she always wear those gauntlets?

"Why would you tell me that? If that's how it was then you deserved it! A gentleman doesn't peep!"

"What is a gentleman?" Erza could feel a lasting headache coming as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

This made Natsu anxious. "I mean of course I know the meaning, so don't worry!"

"Natsu why are you so nervous around me? I won't punish you, Lucy did a pretty good job in that department if ask me." This gave Natsu a bit of hope, so proceeded to ask Erza her intentions.

"Then why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to talk," Erza perched her head towards Natsu, then continued. "About what happened two days ago."

"Oh, that, I am sorry."

This piqued Erza's interest. "Sorry about what?"

"You know, the magazine, and all."

"I forgive you!" Deep down Erza knew that she was at fault here, but didn't manage to say so. Her pride wouldn't allow it.

"Thanks, so are we cool now?" In a desperate attempt to salvage his relationship as nakama with the scarlet knight Natsu tried to close the bag and forget about this whole mess.

"Nope", She firmly stated, while shaking her head in disapproval. "You have to take responsibility!"

**-ooo-**

_Now Natsu had a whole new problem to solve..._

* * *

**AN: So sorry for not having updated this story in a while, real life caught up to me. In other words I got sick. Have been for 2 weeks, thus draining my writing energy. But I am here now and that's what counts right? No? Ok...**

**But with this chapter I wanted to develop the relationship between Natsu and Erza, as its known that Erza has feelings for Jellal. Thanks to that she can't really just jump into Natsu's arms right of the bat. Even though the incidents that happened them. Next chapter there will be more "fluff" I guess.**

**Please leave me a line or two, it would mean a lot to me! **

**Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: As friends

**Passed boundaries**

**Chapter 5: As friends**

* * *

**This chapter is dedicated to all of the wonderful loyal readers who took their precious time and reviewed my story chapter after chapter! I would love to break the 100 review barrier with this chap; as we are so close: 78 reviews! For 4 chapters!? That's pretty darn good if you ask me! And it's all thanks to you! So please leave a line or two, it really means a lot!**

* * *

"You have to fix this!" The old man said. In the dark room that was his chamber, Makarovs face seemed to be carved from stone in the vague light. The dense atmosphere signaled for the oldest sibling of the Strauss family that he was being serious. The master's sudden change in mood was slightly frightening.

"As much as I would like to, I have to wonder how I should. Didn't Fairy tail have a contract signed with sorcerer weekly?" Mirajane didn't necessarily feel guilty, it was just that she didn't expect things to turn out the way they had, and that was exactly why things needed to be salvaged before Fairy tails name would go into further shame.

The master tsk'ed her. Slowly shaking his head while closing his eyes. The lone wax candle was slowly burning out. Soon the room they were located in would be engulfed into darkness. "What you keep forgetting is that Sorcerer weekly may have a contract with us, but only regarding your photos. Not Natsu's or Erza's. It seems they have forgotten in the bliss of wanting to make it known to Magnolia about their incident."

Mira was quick to point out the small but vital detail she managed to catch in the master's sentence. "What do you mean Magnolia? Doesn't the Sorcerer publish their paper to all of Fiore?" It was strange, but not in a troubling way, it would help them significantly if the detail was in fact true!

"I heard from my contacts that Sorcerer weekly had arranged that the paper would release approximately one day sooner here in Magnolia that the rest of Fiore. It's hard to believe, but my sources are reliable." The seriousness in the air was too much for Mira and soon she was giggling at the master, trying her worst to conceal it.

"Why are you laughing? The guild's honor is at stake here!" Ticked off by the S-class mages antics, Makarov didn't waste any time with showing his disapproval. She could at least let him know what was so funny about the situation.

"You are enjoying this aren't you?" The master didn't really fit in this serious character of his, thus making her giggle.

"Stop being such a child Mirajane! Nonetheless, we have to fix this mess today, or the situation will get even worse! So please pay attention! I am expecting this mess to be cleaned off and dealt with when we launch the S-class exams! Understood!?"

In a single short reply Mirajane stated her intentions: "Yes Master!"

* * *

_**On the west side of the Magnolia canal…**_

* * *

Natsu was thinking, as Erza watched him curtly to come up with his reply to her demand of responsibility. Maybe she shouldn't have asked him such a tasking favor? After all the kind of responsibility she had in mind was probably a foreign subject to the dragon slayer.

It had been a few moments, so Erza was expecting a reply soon. While locking her gaze with the rosette she noticed a strange frown on his face as he thought. The sort of expression one has when troubled or even pained.

The Titania's patience ran thin, as it never had been too long in the first place, so she asked him about his answer.

"So, what do you say, Natsu?" Her question made him fidget in his seat, he was nervous, that much was clear. Even so, Erza had to know what he would do, or in other words see if he needed more punishment to change his mind. The asking business was just common courtesy, that day in the photo studio, according to the magazine, he had taken many of her first times. Including her first kiss and first second kiss! He wasn't simply going to get away with it!

"Well I…guess I have to, right?" His answer was more like a question than a real solid answer she had expected but, oh well, this was Natsu, expecting such things from him was like entrusting a secret with Mira, or any other person in the guild.

"Good to hear! Now, let me explain this a bit further, will you!" Erza had a brilliant plan in mind that would relieve them off any suspicion regarding the magazine. Even Natsu would agree to it, even if he in some way didn't approve, he would, she was there to make sure of that!

The pink haired dragon slayer simply nodded in reply, signaling that he was ready to hear her out.

"What I have in mind is that you and I get plural!" The look on the dragon slayers face didn't say much. But it was obvious he didn't follow her throughout the sentence, Erza had tried to be as smooth as possible while not revealing too much of her plan, while relying entirely on Natsu's capacity to understand for him to catch her drift.

"So you want us to be plural? How do you mean?" Hearing him say it made her almost blush. If not for her need to brush away a few strands of hair from her face with the back of her hand, Natsu would probably have noticed a few red tinges on her face.

"By that I mean," She needed a few seconds to brace herself. Her nervous mind was getting the better of her, Erza had never uttered the things she said to Natsu to any other male before, even if she had wanted to. "As in an r-relationship… "

Natsu's eyes narrowed as he stroked his chin in what the scarlet knight hoped to be understanding. By now Natsu had calmed down and was surprisingly cool headed around her. While she was as nervous as one could get! What if he said no? Then her first time asking someone to be her boyfriend would get ruined! She wasn't sure if Natsu would survive the aftermath.

"… I still don't get it…" A hideous feeling not unlike motion sickness washed over her. Why, was it so hard to get through with Natsu? Erza felt stupid for not getting to the point straight away. Truth to be told, she had always wanted to use the 'plural' term. In one of Levy's books she had noticed the protagonist use that to confess his feelings to his love.

But that didn't matter now! She needed to make Natsu understand the situation; therefore she braced herself once again and prepared to get to the point as fast as possible.

"So what I have been trying to say is…that, would y-you become my b-boyfriend?" The mere thought of the word boyfriend made her tongue twist in an awkward fashion, thus resulting in her stuttering the word like a school girl asking out her crush to a date. She felt vulnerable while doing this, her only comfort being the armor she so often wore.

Awkward silence followed…

"Sure!" Wha…just like that? Sure? Erza had thought that the dragon slayer was at least going to be a bit reluctant. But this was a success nonetheless! Her first confession was a success! It didn't matter that Natsu most likely didn't know what to do next, in fact she didn't know either, and her only reference was her books and even Erza knew that they were more or less made entirely out of fiction.

"Okay…then that is settled..." Awkward silence followed…

It was Natsu who unexpectedly broke the silence. "So what does a couple in a relationship do?" Erza noticed that Natsu had some trouble pronouncing the words; he was probably also clueless on this matter. It also seemed he had started sweating, as he was tugging on his scarf constantly.

"As far as I know they date, and do other romantic things." The Titania said.

"Then let's date then..." Ah, this was so sudden; of course she was going to say yes! But first she had to let an important detail be known.

"O-okay, but don't get any funny ideas, we are doing this strictly as friends! Nothing more, nothing less!" Phew, there she had said it; this was of course a vital part of Erza's grand scheme. After all they couldn't possibly ruin their fine professional guild mate relation that they had built up since their childhood.

"I see! So we are doing this as nakama, but what would like to do on our date, Erza?" The whole stature of the pink haired teen completely changed when Erza assured him of the terms of this relationship. Natsu was afraid that this business would end up like Lucy's said relationships. Where she would come running to him and telling an hour long story on how the jerk her boyfriend… ex-boyfriend had been to her. Natsu held Lucy in the uppermost regards he could possibly hold for anybody, and in a manner of good will, Natsu had under these opportunities taken the liberty of swinging a few fiery punches at the guys Lucy dated. Of course Erza wasn't going to come running to him, as he now was the "jerk" or whatever.

"Well, we could…Erm…go to your place!" her words betrayed her mind, as her suggestion of date was not at all what she had thought of, a nice restaurant, a café or even just a stroll in the Magnolia park, but no. Her damned mouth had gone ahead and blurted out something entirely out of place! His home! No one invites a person to their home on the first date, and to even think of the fact that she had somehow invited herself over! That is weird, she was weird!

Natsu on the other hand accepted her offer with one of his trademark smiles. He also made sure to remind her that his place could be a bit messy in some places and dirty in other. But Erza didn't care, it would be nice to see a new threshold for once, aside from Fairy hills and Lucy's place Erza hadn't been visiting any other guild members home. Now that she thought about it she hadn't been at Natsu's home either, so this was new and exciting actually! It would be the first time she visited a male friends place.

In the middle of the town square, there were a few people trotting about in the evening…No actually night, the beautiful light of the pavement lanterns illuminated the plaza. During their walk Natsu had asked her about why the people they passed all held their hands linked in some fashion. Erza had replied that they also were couples, and couples did that kind of stuff.

Then to her surprise the dragon slayer grabbed a hold of her hand, resulting in them holding them like the rest of the couples. Naturally this act caught Erza off guard and she had to hastily look away to hide her faces growing resemblance to her hair.

Soon they were out the inner city and were nearing the city outskirts, the Titania wasn't surprised. There had been rumors about the whereabouts of Natsu's home, and they all seemed to point towards it being located in the woods around Magnolia.

None of them had really spoken since the linking of hands in the plaza, only small curt nods and mumbles was being used between them. The silence was eerie and demoralizing, so when the stone brick path of the city came to an end, Erza was relieved. Now there was at least the sound of gravel under their feet that kept the eeriness away.

"Here it is!" The rosette said proudly while pointing at his front porch and the sign that was present. "Me and Happy live here!" Yes, Erza could figure that out. For on the sign on the small pathway to Natsu house, in not so shabby handwriting it said: Natsu and Happy's house.

With Natsu leading the way, they both trekked up the path. Erza had to make sure not to trip over any roots or stubs as there were a lot of them. After all, it would be bad if she would fall.

When they finally arrived at the door, Natsu stood in front of the porch seemingly pondering over something; this made the Titania curious to what made the dragon slayer idle. The night was actually getting really cold.

"Natsu, hurry, it is impolite to keep a lady waiting you know!" 'Ka-chank' the pink haired dragon slowly opened his front door, much to Erza's relief; she hoped he had something warm to drink in there.

"Welcome in!" Natsu nonchalantly gestured for to step inside, his carelessness somehow put her at ease, he wasn't taking this all too seriously which was good, and it would have been awkward if both of them would have been nervous. It was dark inside. The lights were off so the scarlet knight didn't see much aside from the vague outlining of furniture inside. Just as before Erza made sure to not trip and carefully stepped over the threshold, but…

"Thank y-kyaaa!" Natsu was astounded! She had just gone kyaaa, like the time at Galuna Island! In his excitement, Natsu hurried over to the light switch next to the small photo frame with a grinning Happy and Natsu holding a big fish in the background, and switched the lights on.

What he discovered was not what he had expected to see. There lied Erza, her scarlet hair sprawled out on wooden floor! Panicked, Natsu rushed over to his new girlfriend! "E-Erza? Are you alright? No, are you hurt? Erza?" Slowly the fairy queen pushed herself up and soon stood again.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Her pride had decided out of courtesy to completely neglect the existence of the incident that had happened. But Natsu still wasn't convinced by her antics.

"Erza are you hurt? I am sorry! I..." Natsu's little rant came to an end as a steel clad finger silenced him. A small but coy smile played out on the scarlet haired woman's lips. Erza's hazel eyes locked into his and only after a brief silence did the knight speak. "It seems I slipped, and I am fine! Thanks for asking though." Upon hearing this Natsu cracked a smile himself, but it was gone as fast as it came.

From Erza's left nostril a red line was being produced. A thick crimson trail ran down her lip and dripped onto the floor and formed a small puddle of blood.

"No, you are not fine, you are bleeding!" Erza was surprised, well; she did land on her nose after all. To make sure what Natsu was saying was true; the Titania used the back of her hand to wipe her nose. The result was clear; her gauntlet was smudged in blood…and she didn't feel so good to be honest, ugh, she needed to sit, now that she thought about it a little sleep wasn't going to hurt either…

* * *

"Here this will warm you up, I heated it myself!" The fire mage finished off with his stupid but surprisingly cute remark while wobbling over to her side with a plate and a cup of oolong tea.

"What happened?" It soon hit her though, she must have collapsed out of fatigue or something, and her fall earlier didn't help either as it started a nosebleed. Across her Natsu had placed a metal trash can, and it seemingly was filled to the brim with her tissues littered with her blood. This made her smile once again. Natsu was always there to help her.

"You suddenly passed out; I was really worried you know! You should stop being so reckless!" A small amused snort made its way out Erza's mouth. Look who is talking, she honestly didn't expect Natsu to say something like that to be honest.

To her defense the scarlet knight retorted at the state of anarchy Natsu's place was in. To that she got a sheepish smile and an explanation which only further complicated things. However Erza wanted her boyfriend's place clean for future visits, to that Natsu smartly replied with: "Is there going to future visits?" This earned him an armored punch to the gut, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Of course there will be more visits; you are my b-boyfriend! Stupid!" Natsu was not convinced though. There was still a thing that had been gnawing his mind this entire time.

"Speaking of which, Erza, its right that we are a couple, but why are we doing this? Wouldn't we have to like each other then, you know, like how Happy teases me and Lucy?" He said.

"We are doing this because…that is what they expect!" This made Natsu rub the back of his head.

"Who expects?" Erza wished that it was as simple as Natsu made it out to be, but as expected there was going to have to be a lot of explaining.

"The guild, the city they all expect us to act as a couple. That is why we are going to do exactly that, pretend to date but as friends!" By Mavis, Erza hoped that Natsu understood now.

"Why?"

"There is no 'why' they all saw the pictures and it's only natural to assume that they will think that we have something going!" The Titania was losing her wits here, if Natsu didn't understand with words maybe violence would suffice…

"No not that. But why as friends?" Oh sweet Mavis, somehow she knew that this question would come up, better sooner than later.

"Because," It was just an excuse to cover up the fact that she would rather be guild mates than lovers! Even if she had enjoyed the kisses and even had a dream about him, Erza still didn't know what her heart wanted. This was one of the few times she actually was glad Jellal was in jail, how was he going to react to all of this? "I want to k-keep our friendship, and after all we aren't really dating, it's just an act to keep the heat off us! We only need to keep this up at the guild and other public places, okay? Besides the S-class exams are coming up so being in a real relationship would distract you from performing on jobs!"

Natsu liked the idea! A lie, a coax, a fake, all this and the opportunity to fool the entire guild? Yes please! Besides he would beat Gray in finding a girlfriend! "Okay, sounds good, I am up to it!"

With a sigh of relief Erza snatched the cup of now cold oolong tea; it tasted really good though, thanks to the amount sugar Natsu had poured into it. It didn't matter if the brew was cold or hot, the important part was that he had remembered that she liked things sweet. That proved they were in a steady relationship…friendship.

By the time she was finished with the tea, Erza noticed that she was wrapped up in a lot of blankets, thus resulting in her porously sweating.

"Natsu, mind if I use your shower, I am feeling sticky." She could not afford to let her reputation as a woman lower by not being fresh at all times.

"Sure!" Natsu said while pointing at the bathroom.

* * *

**Eventually... **

* * *

"What do mean you don't have any towels?" This was an outrage! He didn't even have any hot water! So there she stood with a severe case of Goosebumps while freezing her nips off, that Natsu! She was going to take him shopping after this!

From outside the bathroom which had turned out to be a shower cabin with a sink, Natsu yelled back his reply to the pissed red head: "I don't use towels, I dry myself!"

"Oh really?" Natsu didn't get what the big deal was? He was a fire mage, his body radiated heat!

Then next series of events didn't really justify anything that had to do with towels, instead the shower curtains were pushed back and a fuming Titania trotted towards the baffled dragon slayer.

Her very naked and curvy and lush and buxom and naked body presented itself before him. The small water droplets that remained from her icy shower complemented her porcelain skin as it glistened in the moonlight. With a steady pace Erza started taking steps in his direction. "If you don't have any towels, then,"

She was now only mere millimeters away from him and her chocolate eyes pierced his soul with an unseen vigor. Just as naked as before Erza pushed Natsu onto the couch; his muscles didn't put up a fight since he was overwhelmed by her strength. His mind clouded with the photo shot incident and his heart threatened to jump out his throat out of fear.

However, what happened next blew Natsu's mind. Erza walked up to him, took a seat next to him on the couch only to proceed with leaning her had carefully against his shoulder and closing the gap between their bodies. "If you don't have any towels, then I'll just use you as a towel, it can't be helped!"

"O-okay, take your t-time I guess…" For a moment Natsu thought Erza was going to kill him but that had to wait, as he now was the Titania's private towel…

* * *

_Where did the boundary as friends go?_

* * *

**AN: Hi guys! You missed me? I know you did!**

**I am back with another delayed chapter (but the delay was smaller this time) and as always the author has an explanation! So, yay, its summer vacation (It has been for about two weeks now) and I am on a holiday trip with my family to Turkey, Antalya. We are staying the remainder of the trip in a resort near the beach, blah, blah.**

**I was planning on updating this story two days ago but two factors prevented me from doing so, One: we had to land in Helsinki and wait there for about six hours when it should only had been one hour. Imagine the dread in my eyes when I looked up our flight in the arrivals only for it to be delayed…**

**Two: I spent one day discovering our resort, which concluded in searching for the guy in charge and asking about the Wi-Fi key. So that's why there was a bit of a delay.**

**Now that we are on the topic is anyone else on a vacation? If so tell me about it in the reviews, as I read every single one of them!**

**Now before you start questioning my choice of story progression, you have to let me explain: Natsu and Erza cannot just fall in love on the spot, and with her heart still tucking on Jellal. Natsu has to take that place from him and effectively replace Jellal. See it like this, Jellal's connection with Erza must be severed before Natsu can make her fall for him. So this is what I am currently trying to do, as it will both be a lot more satisfying for all of our shipper hearts if their love have a strong base and starting point, and not just on the fly and full of plot armor. **

**And lastly, the review game, if you have a story you would like see obtain one additional review, then make you way to my profile page and click the link to navigate to the forum, we are all really friendly, you can even discuss your opinion about pairings and the initial FT manga and anime, I am honored to have you all there!**

**Until next time! Bye and have a wonderful summer! **


	6. Chapter 6: Lucy's realization

**Passed boundaries**

**Chapter six: Lucy's realization**

* * *

"This is a message for a Natsu Dragneel; please find yourself at platform 4 where your acquaintance will be waiting! I repeat; please find yourself at platform 4 where your aquainta…Erza will be waiting!" Said a male voice from the speakers inside the station, since last night both of them were busy trying to keep their composure high and their acting skills higher. The duo had set out early thanks to Erza waking up and starting rummaging around the dragon slayers house in search for something to eat, to her disappointment there wasn't any strawberries cakes, short cakes, puddings or any other strawberry related tapestries.

"Thank you for your understanding mister, your actions today will not be forgotten!" The Titania said as she strode off towards the meeting point she had set out just now.

"Y-yeah, sure, you are welcome!" Erza was not known to beat around the bush, and the poor guy inside the control room of the station had to witness her barge in and demand that Natsu was to be called after in the speakers, oh right, there was three others inside the room but they were out cold after not replying fast enough, Erza wanted her answers rapid.

The fire breathing mage had disappeared as soon as they literally entered the station. She just turned her head towards the cafeteria, maybe a grabbed a bit or two and he was gone! Their train would depart in less than 20 minutes.

As the knight arrived at the lounge a level down there was still no sign of him, not a single sign of any pink hair. Accepting this fact and proceeding towards the platform she had asked the men in the control room to call out while cursing her decision for having let him gotten out of her sights.

It didn't take long before Erza found Natsu, actually she felt kind of stupid for not having searched properly…

Outside a medium sized crowd had gathered, while not knowing what the ruckus outside was about Erza could almost guess. Only Natsu would be able draw such attention at the morning rush where people paid little to no attention towards their surroundings.

"What the hell is your problem? Stop eating my flames! I need them for my performance!" In the middle of the crowd there was Natsu and another, whose face Erza didn't recognize at all. However, what Erza really would want to know was why the dragon slayer chasing this guy?

"NATSU," This snapped the pink haired mages attention right at the red head, probably scared at the punishment that was coming his way. "What in the name of Mavis are doing? You have five seconds to answer! One, two, three…"

"Okay, okay…I was hungry you know!" What was he saying? This made absolutely no sense whatsoever! With a scowl Erza glared at Natsu, effectively scaring him.

But it was not Natsu who gave her an answer. "This guy disrupted my performance by eating my fire! He is a freak!" Erza kind of got it now. Natsu was hungry so he ate this fellow's fire? On a second thought no, it still didn't make much sense.

The Titania was forced to investigate this matter more extensively, "So, mister, are you a fire mage?"

The scarred man's hazel eyes darted back and forth between Natsu and Erza, seemingly having a hard time deciding which one of them was the strangest in terms of personality.

"What? NO, of course not, I was just using some gun powder and…" As he said that a shocked murmur echoed through the gathered crowd, soon after they started dispersing, while fuming in disappointment, he was a joke, he couldn't use magic after all only 2% percent of all the people in Fiore can…

"No matter mister, my b-boyfriend thinks that your fire tasted good, right Natsu?" she said while nudging Natsu with her elbow.

"Sure, I am stuffed! Thank you!" A smile cracked upon the man's lips, the compliment Natsu gave him was heartfelt but Erza still kind of wondered why someone would be Happy if a stranger commented on how good your fire tasted? After all only Natsu could possibly eat fire.

"In that case could you donate a few coins? It seems you scared away my crowd…ehehe…" No, neither Natsu nor Erza did such a thing; the faux mage did on his own account, by uttering the wrong words…

In an instant the fire dragon slayer turned his head towards the big clock in front of the station entrance. "Whoa, Erza, look at the time our train departs in less than ten minutes let's go!" In her surprise the Titania managed to toss a few jewel bills to the fake fire mage, while being dragged away by Natsu in a manner she did not enjoy, not in the least.

'SMACK' The sound echoed through the site and earned them a few peoples stares of questioning. As the dust cloud settled, Erza emerged from where Natsu had been last seen dragging her and trekked towards the now shaking man. Women weren't supposed to be this strong!

"Excuse my partner," In a manner of good will she bent down and collected the bills she had thrown his way. When done stacking them she courteously handed them over to him. "Here you go, for the wasted gun powder and the trouble my boyfriend caused you!"

"T-thank you!" He managed to stutter, only to run away mere seconds later, well whatever, she and Natsu had a train to catch. Chit-chatting with strangers would only function to hinder them further.

While making her way back to the hole that Natsu currently crawled out from while moaning out his burning displeasure with Erza's course of previous actions. "Let's go Natsu, or we will miss our train!" She received a mild glare from the dragon slayer for ignoring his state of distress, but eventually let it go and followed her back inside; he didn't want to miss out on the job they had picked out to do together.

"Oi, Erza, wait for me!" His pleadings went unheard as the Titania continued to stroll towards the train platform.

* * *

_**At last…**_

* * *

"Your tickets?" They had barely managed to board the train, all thanks to Natsu's immature behavior towards that fire performer or whatever; the point was that Natsu was constantly getting into new troubles.

Erza handed over their tickets and watched patiently as the conductor used his stamp to punch two small holes on respective tickets; Natsu was of course out of commission, thus leaving her alone to make the necessary arrangements for them to not be cast out of the train.

"Thank you, and have a nice ride." The statement sounded like a well-practiced act of courtesy, like a well-oiled machine the conductor strolled further down the aisle and repeated the exact words he had uttered when with them. Well whatever, it was his job so Erza couldn't possibly blame him for anything.

"…Erza…Help…Me…" Between his groans and attempts to catch his breath, the fire dragon slayer tried to achieve some sort of recognition from his violent girl-friend, his face had taken for the worse and the color had faded into something of a sickly yellow-greenish color.

He always ended up like this, only Wendy with her Troja spell could effectively ease his motion sickness, but she the fairy queen had some solutions that were just as or maybe even more effective than Wendy's. The first step was already complete, Erza was sitting next to the dragon slayer already, so the Titania affectionately patted her lap to make the rosette move and rest his head there.

"Natsu, come here." He did as he was told like a proper obedient puppy, and soon his pink hair was located over her skirt. A faint smile played out on Erza's lips, when he wasn't fighting Gray or spouting nonsense, the fire mage was indeed very cute. The puffy cheeks which still sported some baby fat where soft and healthy pink, but where complemented by his pointy eyes and jawline. "I guess a little won't hurt." Erza muttered softly to herself.

Small soft snores could be heard as the pinkette slept an untroubled sleep, so Erza took the initiative and slowly ran her fingers through his hair, he didn't mind it seemed, or maybe he was a heavy sleeper, well, it did not really matter to Erza. As long as she got to pat her boyfriend it was alright.

His hair was surprisingly soft, or as soft as she could feel through her steel plated fingers. When they were little Erza used to run her hands through his hair just like this in order for the little boy that had been Natsu to sleep, back then Igneel's absence really took it's tool on him.

However, the nostalgia ride ended so abruptly it almost threw Erza off. For now it seemed her hand was stuck, as in stuck in his pink soft hair. For the love of Mavis, this couldn't be happening! Not now, not when Natsu's cute innocent face was sleeping. She would have to hit herself many times over if he woke up, her heart would burst if something happened to him now!

At first Erza put in small enough force so that he would not take notice and continue his slumber, but that soon proved to be completely futile as the rivets of her armored gauntlet had married the pink tufts of hair on Natsu's head. Using a little more of her strength to try to pry her hand loose, however that did not happen instead she earned a small moan from the fire dragon slayer. "…Erza…stop…tickles…" Eh, how did he know that she was there? The extra adrenaline which pumped in her veins helped her mind come up with a swift conclusion to the problem at hand.

In the meekest voice Erza uttered: "Re-quip!" A bright silver flash ran across the aisle and attracted a few curious glances her way. Erza had re-quipped off her heart-kreauz cuirass and back in to her white shirt with the tastefully fashionable frills around the collar. The armor was gone and all and the rosettes hair was out of any potential danger but there was something else that concerned the Titania…why did her chest feel so tight?

A closer look upon her chest did reveal the problem. Her shirt was about to burst, literally. Erza didn't know what to do at this point, as she had not bothered with storing something like an extra set of casual clothes into her inventory, only axes, various armors and some more sharp things to poke people with.

Oh well, it couldn't be helped then. With that, Erza reached down to her shirt's collar and relieved her chest from two, no, make that three buttons. The generous valley between her mounds got revealed and the general conservative look was shattered. When they were done with this, she and Natsu's next date would be a shopping trip, she needed some new clothes and Natsu needed, well, towels to begin with…

* * *

_**Ten minutes into the foreseeable future…**_

* * *

Hills, green trees, green hills, more trees that was what the Titania's eyes feasted upon, nothing but relentless green rolling hills and some trees littered here and there, she was not sure why she thought this but things were more…_Alive_ when Natsu was awake. Maybe she should wake him up? But no, that would be rude.

Maybe she should get some shut eye? That might kill some time and function to make her better rested, no?

Now that she thought about it she deserved some rest after putting up with Natsu for these past days. In the midst of her indecision about getting some sleep or not, Natsu moaned once more and turned his head so that his face was buried in her skirt, while being to engrossed in her thoughts Erza didn't take any notice to the dragon slayers sudden change of position.

Soon her circle of thoughts broke down as her heart pace quickened, and excess blood was pumped up to her head, thus making her dizzy while unusually warm, an amiable warmth crept up from her stomach area and slowly worked its way upwards. An unfamiliar fizzy feeling filled up her person and not unlike butterflies in the stomach sensation, it left her giddy.

This feeling was awesome in her opinion, why did it take until now for her to experience it? The pleasure radiating from her core, slowly intensified, climbing to reach its peak, Erza knew that she ought to suppress this feel and sensation, to hide her apparent pleasure from the people around her. This was not the appropriate place.

In a swift motion, her head quirked downwards to investigate her pulsating core. To her horror she found Natsu pressing his face up her womanhood in his sleep. A small dark spot had formed on her skirt, a mixture of the idiots drool and … something else.

By Mavis, he was going to pay for her ridicule! T-to think she thought it was pleasant, but it was before she knew it was his doing.

"NATSU WHAT THE HELL?" No further questioning was required, as he was now fully awake and air-borne thanks to Erza's iron fist colliding with his cranium. His spatial course was directed at the incoming food cart. The day's special was hot soup.

* * *

_**Where Happy was currently located…**_

* * *

Two shady figures could be spotted behind the curtains if the eye was trained, pacing to and fro, the blonde girls fumed and the cogs and gears in her mind spun like a well-oiled machine in her father's industry.

"So what you are telling is true?" Lucy asked, with a frustrated groan.

"I-it's true! Natsu didn't do anything it was all Erza! She drank from the vial; I think … it was half empty when I woke up!" From the late hours last night till now, Happy had had been Lucy's prisoner. According to her he was a guest, a very important one. She kept nagging on about Natsu and Natsu and Natsu, sometimes Erza, then back to Natsu and a bit of ranting about the magazine. Happy didn't feel too good in all honesty. The canned sardines she had fed him for supper last night were tasty … at first, then his belly twisted and turned, a big knot formed and pained him since then.

"Lucy … those fishes weren't past their date, right?" She just shrugged it off. Cold-hearted bitch, cats were loved by all; they were cute, blue and could fly. She should give him some proper food at least!

"No matter, so you are saying Natsu and Erza is not an item?"

"Yes," He hissed.

"I have to believe you then …" Have to? What was that? Was his word that untrusted?

"Why are you so worried?" Happy was stating the obvious here, and his jailor better answer!

"Because…" She was interrupted mid-sentence.

"You like him."

"…"

"Natsu will return at later this evening. He is with Erza, on a job, when he is back confessing to him is the only option." In the light from the chandelier, Happy's eyes shone a dark lilac. His words betrayed his person. That scared Lucy. The direct prompts to her growing feelings revelation by Happy scared her. Was it as simple as he made it sound? Could the feelings of their comradery be something more? The incident with Erza and Natsu had made that clear…

"Thanks,"

"For what?" With that said he was back to his old persona.

"For making me understand."

* * *

_**That very evening…**_

* * *

"Carla, apologize to Happy! He only tried to be kind!" Wendy pleaded.

"Hmph, as if." Carla played out her role as Happy's bitter sweet heart throb, much to the feline's frustration.

All in all, everything was as it should be at the fairy tail guild. The master stood atop the new second floor and had a smug grin plastered on his face. As if he had done something significant. The Exceed duo was going at it, yet again. Mira made the constant flow of bear and ale rapid. If only Cana would stop snatching away barrels behind her back. The situation was on the brink of spiraling out of control, just as it was supposed to be.

Gray had no one else but Elfman to challenge to various competitions, which he surprisingly won with ease. Natsu was far better than Elfman and the ice mages equal. His presence was missed by him, but he ought to admit that when the seven hells froze over. Until then, Elfman would have to suffice.

Lucy was merrily sipping on her lemon flavored ice tea. The evening was dashingly hot, and such refreshments were happily accepted.

Her mind was on the pink haired idiot. Happy's conciliation had really helped, though she was still nervous, as one should be in this situation.

The moment was near, as Erza and Natsu's banter could be heard from outside. Natsu was loud as usual and Erza was, well, Erza. She could not think clearly anymore. Her head was filled with thoughts of the future 20 minutes, of Natsu and his answer.

"WE ARE BACK!" Erza announced. Nobody made a point of the fact that everyone could hear them some minutes ago.

The ice cubes in her drink had melted to state of liquidation. Leaving her drink with a watery aftertaste and not of lemon. She ditched it, shoving it aside as she rested her chin on her palm. Deep in thought, Lucy noted to herself that the deed had to be done today, or never. That made her resolve tighten.

"Hi there, how did it go on the job?" Mira politely asked, she was always polite, that made her even scarier when she used her Satan soul. Lucy shivered.

"Ah, we kicked ass," Natsu brightly exclaimed. "Even if Erza kicked my…" Natsu was quickly silenced and was on the ground squirming.

"The job was a success." Erza said after she cleared her throat. Lucy quirked an eye brow at that. Natsu wasn't brutally pummeled, instead Erza had jabbed him in a somewhat intimate fashion, as if something had happened.

"Where is the ice cube?" Natsu wasted little time before jumping at Gray's throat. It was a ritual of some sort.

"I am here, fire ninny!" The ice mage had a special glint in his eyes when he answered Natsu's call, Lucy was very sure they had a secret language only those two could comprehend. Her fascination with the two idiots grew in the second.

Before the situation swelled over Erza pulled back Natsu with a stern expression and a steady hand. The look he gave her was heart breaking; he resembled something to a kicked puppy. Lucy silently cursed her weak tolerance to cute things and people.

The two stood in silence as Erza whispered something in his ear, upon hearing it, his onyx eyes flamed up in a life of their own. He didn't speak a word, just replying the Titania with solemn nods and shakes of his pink head. At least they spoke.

"Everyone, we have an announcement to make." Hmm, this was new? Lucy's interest was piqued immensely, as did her heart beat.

Erza continued. "After the last incidents, I and Natsu have decided to become a couple." A silent wave engulfed the guild hall. The faces the guild members gave them were very discomforting. Lucy had almost fallen out of her chair, what dumb crap were they up to? The magazine business according to Happy was Erza's fault for being drunk. Happy had described the smell taste and color of the vials substance, which he blamed for it all. It was wine. Lucy had tested her fair share of different wines, from sour grape vinegar crap, to the finest samples from her father's cellar. She knew her stuff.

Yet she could not help but to feel heart broken. She liked him first damn it!

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_Next chapter: Revenge of the Luce_

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**AN: did you get the pun above? No? Then you suck. ((JK) Obviously, I love you guys!)**

**95 reviews, we said 100. Why do you hate me so? But no matter, it is close enough, and I am content.**

**So the vacation has been good to me, and I have been busy doing vacation stuff, ventured to the beach, visited the landmarks etc. I made the terrible mistake of ditching my sandals half way to the water at the beach. The sand was burning hot, and I had to decide whether dashing back and putting them on or making a run for it to the sea was a better option. **

**So before chapter 7 I have decided to write an one-shot fic just for the heck of it. It's something I think nobody ever have tried… So stay tuned for that one, even if you don't feel excited when you see it published, I implore you all to read it. Like seriously read it, it is freaking gold. If you are mad, well, I am sorry but I write fan fiction solely for my own amusement and that one shot feels more fun at the moment. As Kuroyagi stated in his review; this is not a job, merely a hobby. As soon as the one shot is published I will write on the update for this. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, I also would encourage all who have fav'ed and followed to leave me a line or two. It would really mean a lot! **

**Until next time!**


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